


Anatomically Correct Soul

by Sagoberattare



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Chara is your guardian angel, Deja Vu, Drunken Shenanigans, F/F, F/M, Gen, Intent is important, M/M, Never make deals while your drunk, Nonbinary Chara and Frisk, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Papyrus Knows More Than He Lets On, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader is a lying liar, Reader is named, Sans is having a mini meltdown, Transformation, Wings, accidental magic, and she feels bad about it, eventually, everyone else second point of view, he does get better, magic is based in both emotions and intentions, monsters are wholesome people, only not really because they are a little shit, reader is female, reader is first point of view, reader is petty, they mean well but are kinda bad at making good choices
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2019-05-01 23:25:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 68,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14531655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sagoberattare/pseuds/Sagoberattare
Summary: When your housemate did a genocide route on Undertale, you admittedly should not have gotten drunk just because you got angry that they decided to go on an animated killing spree in your favorite game. You know that wasn’t the adult thing to do but you did it anyway. You also knew better than to make deals with anyone while drunk, but it was a computer, it shouldn’t have done anything. Now you were stuck in Undertale. But hey you convinced them to take your humanity instead of your soul, so maybe you might survive.





	1. Drunken Deals

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Welcome To The Underground](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12608644) by [Kamari333](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamari333/pseuds/Kamari333). 
  * Inspired by [Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9816140) by [Tyrant_Tortoise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tyrant_Tortoise/pseuds/Tyrant_Tortoise). 



> I want to do a shout out for Kamari333 and Tyrant_Tortoise, both of who have written incredible works that inspired me.

You were having a bad day.

You have been cussed out by a angry customer because you didn’t know how to write on a cake, who had the gall to tell you it looked easy to do when you  _knew_  from experience that it was not. Then a kid got sick in the deli area and puked in a bin, forcing you to throw away the product. You had gotten hit on by a drunk who acted like he hadn’t seen a female in years. On top of that the store had a surprise health inspection going on.

You were having a really bad day.

You were so thankful to be home finally, where you didn’t have to interact with anyone but your roommates.

The moment you walked through the door you proceeded to start striping, two of your three roommates present and not even batting an eye at your antics, Mandy still knitting a pair of booties for her three month old nephew and Mia was at the computer playing a game, while Tammy was probably at one of her jobs.

Mandy was a Boston native who was studying dermatology, Mia was undecided on her degree, and Tammy was a full time part-timer and considered herself too old to be going to college. You have known these woman for about four years now, and considered them like an odd group of family. Mia was like a sister, Mandy a aunt and Tammy that relative that no one talked about because you were all convinced she was secretly a crotchety old witch.

Now in just your undies, you made your way to the fridge to acquire a beer.

You wandered over to Mia who was at the jointly shared house computer, wondering what game your fellow gamer was playing. Your old computer died a few months back and you almost had enough to buy a new one. Until then though, you were stuck sharing.

 Mia loved horror genre and while you liked them on occasion the two of you had been suggesting games for the other to play. To your surprise it was Undertale, a game you had recommended. Undertale was one of your all time favorite games, one of those you’d probably would have played it a second time had you the heart to undo your fictional friend’s happiness.

“How far are you?”

Mia hummed, bobbing her head up and down. “Getting ready to face Asgore.”

“Cool.” You replied, taking a sip of your precious beer as you watched Mia make her way to King Asgore.

And both of you proceeded to watch Flowey murder him, get murdered and then you watched in horror as Mia destroyed the world. 

Mia looked confused, unsure as she stared at the screen. “What the heck just happened?”

“Did you… _murder_  everyone?”

“You mean the genocide route? Yeah. I heard from my girlfriend that you should start with that one before playing the other two. Aside from Sans, it was kinda disappointing-” 

“Slaughtering helpless people is disappointing to you?!”

“What? Oh, not this again.” She groaned, looking irritated. Mandy just shrugged with a ‘you know she would do this’ kind of shrug.

 It was a common thing to see you getting angry and emotional over decisions in a video game. They still recalled the time you had a meltdown from having to decide on which imaginary pigeon boyfriend you should pick, or the time you wouldn’t stop crying after playing ‘Can Your Pet’. And that was just the times you played. You got really emotional when others played games and made choices you found horrible.

Mia sighed before giving you an exasperated look. “It’s just a game.”

“Where you ruthlessly butcher innocent people!”

“It’s just a game! If you weren’t supposed to do it they wouldn’t have added it!”

“I love those people, you murderer!”

You were furious. Deep down you knew it was just a game, and if you really wanted no one else to play genocide you should not have recommended it. But it made you mad that, even though they were fictional characters that your thoughtless housemate murdered them all.

You tended to relate to books and video game characters more than real people, which meant you were rarely aware of the current times unless they truly shook your personal little bubble.

It made trying to chat with Tammy and Mandy hard as one was a social butterfly and the other was a pessimist that always watched the news.

You knew you were not acting like a mature adult, getting worked up over something stupid, over a silly game.

But you have had a bad day, and you have been feeling a rant coming on half way through your shift and had intended to burn though it with beer and any puzzle game that required you to think.

“Girls.” Mandy said, scowling. “What have we said about arguing over games?”

“She started it.” Mia mumbled, looking petulant.

It took all your self-control to turn around, grab a twelve pack out of the fridge and march for your bedroom, knowing if you did not you were going to say something you might regret.

All over a silly, fictional, wonderful, beautiful game that you connected better with than with living people.

As you shut the door you heard Mia call out, “It’s just a game!”

 

* * *

 

 

 You had finally calmed down after four hours of playing Portal.

You stumbled back out into the living area, and it took you a few minutes to stop swaying enough to actually tell the time. Just after midnight.

You felt foolish for getting worked up over Mia’s choice. Lots of people played the genocide route and played games that required you to temporarily displace your morals. As Mia said, if you weren’t supposed to do it they wouldn’t have added it. But you tended to get angry at those choices.

You were the sort of person who would rather ruin the ending for yourself and know the secrets if it meant you could give the characters the best ending.

You would grow attach to characters, wanting to know them to the best of your ability…and then ensure they got their happy ending.

Mandy once said you were so obsessed over those games and stories that she wouldn’t be surprised if you’d rather live in those worlds.

You would never want to be a part of those worlds. You barely functioned in this world, going to a world where you may very well have to kill in order not to be killed? No, you didn’t think you could do it. You didn’t have the confidence to defend others in life. When it came to conflict, you were like a doormat; easy to step on and below notice.

You sighed, wobbling over to the computer. You’d have to apologize to Mia in the morning.

You plopped down, starting up the computer as you sipped your last beer. Damn, did you drink the whole thing? 

You stared at the monitor for a few minutes, swaying slightly in your seat. After a few tries you open Steam to see what games you could play.

Undertale was blinking red.

You stared at it, your vision swimming momentarily before you push it, trying to figure out if the blinking was a glitch or your drunkenness.

The screen blacked out, letters forming on it

**Interesting. You want to go back to the world you destroyed.**

Oh.  _This_.

Despite never playing it, you have watched the genocide route online. You knew what this was.

**It was you who pushed everything to the edge.**

You felt offended. You did not destroy the world!

**…? You didn’t?**

Did you say it out loud? Was the game actually responding? How drunk were you?

**No…I see. You weren’t the one. You were the one that got angry when the other did it.**

Screw it, you were clearly drunk if you thought Chara was responding to you. Might as well go along for the ride.

**Hmmm. You felt that it was a great injustice that the other one destroyed the world. Would you attempt to fix her wrongdoing?**

“She made ‘er choice. Can't unfix it. Make my own choices.” You slurred, glaring at the screen.

**What if I could let you make your own choices? Here in the world?**

“Not givin’ you my soul. Still usin’ it.”

**Then there isn’t really anything you could give me to bring it back, is there?**

A moment of inspiration hit you. You poked at the screen as though to jab your finger into Chara.

“How ’bout my ‘umanity?”

**…Humanity?**

“Yesh! Take what makes me ‘uman! Almost as good as a soul. Hafta start as somtin’ other than human, yeah? Like the ‘ittle mermaid! See if I can save ‘em without being a ‘uman!”

**... Alright. Consider me intrigued. Let us see what happens.**

Suddenly the screen seemed to grow, and a pulling force dragged you out of the chair. Fear started to grip you as you swore the screen was sucking you in, your fear paralyzing your voice.

Rapidly you were consumed by the blackness, and for a moment you felt suffocated by it.

Then the pain started.

You felt like your flesh was melting off your bones while your bones turned to play-do. You were weightless yet heavy at the same time, like you were a tiny pebble being crushed by a bigger rock.

Just as you were certain you were going to implode, you started to drop through the blackness, like a marionette whose strings were cut. A dab of light shined and you found yourself rapidly falling towards it. Just as the light consumed you, you saw words flash before your eyes.

**Tell Flowey I said ‘hi’. =)**

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, it has been a while since I tried writing anything. I hope you enjoy this story, I am mostly doing this to see if I can write a multi-chapter story and stick with it. 
> 
> Will try to update every week. Wish me luck?


	2. Atypical Curiosity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to do a shout out for Kamari333 and Tyrant_Tortoise, both of who have written incredible works that inspired me.

 

Everything hurt.

You couldn’t get up, feeling as weak as a new born and agonizingly aware of everything touching you. Everything was blurry, and you felt a hum in your body you couldn’t properly explain. 

 _Just how much did I drink last night?_  You have had hangovers before, but none ever felt this bad. This was a deep, encompassing pain.

Turning your head hurt, all your fuzzy vision could see was yellow and grayish purple, and a blurry light above you.

You took a deep breath (it felt too deep, too long, like she was filling empty space), and screamed. You screamed, and screamed and screamed (in the back of your panicked mind you wondered at how you could scream for so long without feeling the burning in your lungs, or run out of air), your screams seeming to echo and bounce off the vast place you were in.

You kept screaming, unable to move or see clearly and very much frightened as you felt trapped in your own body.

You heard heavy feet running somewhere, but you couldn’t stop screaming. It was as if all the pain you were experiencing was trying to find an outlet and that outlet was your mouth.

Large soft white gloves came into your fuzzy view, gently shaking you.

She (it sounded like a she) was talking but you couldn’t hear her over your screaming. She was talking, sounding urgent and pleading. She turned you over, and all you could make out was that she was huge and very white and purple.

Your vision blurred further, tears welling in your eyes as the pain of moving registered.

She brought her hand to your face, something shimmered and you were back in the mercifully painless blackness.

 

 

* * *

 

Flowey took a deep terrified breath.

He was  _alive_.

He wilted a little, trying to get it together as feeling soon drained away from him.

This happened more often than anyone but the smiling trashbag knew. Frisk would be around a few times than Chara came through and slaughter everybody. Sometime it was dozens of timelines before Chara showed up. Sometimes they showed up a dozen times over.

Since he was here again that means Frisk either took the deal, or it’s a different named Frisk.

That happened a lot too.

It was always Frisk and Chara, but most of the time Frisk would carry a different name, and though he knew Chara was Chara he always felt compelled to refer to Chara by the name Frisk decided to wear at those times. Some were fairly normal names. Others not so much. The latest name was Mia.

It was all part of the game.

This time though, it felt different. Unusual. He couldn’t put his leaf on it but something felt out of place.

Oh well. Time to wait for Frisk/Chara to go through here again.

It should be soon, they never dawdle long near the flower bed-

A cacophony of screams filled the air, jolting the flower. It was coming from the entrance that Frisk always starts at.

Flowey was quick to appear at the entrance and peer in. It took Flowey a moment to realize that it was in fact one person screaming and it was bouncing off the walls of the ruins.

They were on the flower bed, mostly hidden by the flowers and before he could get closer to see who it was he heard thunderous foot steps. The ruckus they were making was deafening so no wonder  _she_  would hear it.

He moved away, watching as Toriel ran into the area.

He returned to the entrance, watching Toriel bending down. She blocked his view of the newcomer, who was still screaming as though they had been violently tortured.

They were so loud he couldn’t hear what Toriel was saying, and after several minutes unsuccessfully trying to calm the shrieking person down Toriel finally had enough and used her magic to knock them unconscious.

It went abruptly quite, and Flowey continued to watch as Toriel continued to fret over the person, healing magic at work.

Toriel was talking to the unconscious person telling them it was going to be okay, she had them.

̶M̶̶̶u̶̶̶c̶̶̶h̶̶̶ ̶̶̶l̶̶̶i̶̶̶k̶̶̶e̶̶̶ ̶̶̶h̶̶̶o̶̶̶w̶̶̶ ̶̶̶s̶̶̶h̶̶̶e̶̶̶ ̶̶̶w̶̶̶o̶̶̶u̶̶̶l̶̶̶d̶̶̶ ̶̶̶t̶̶̶a̶̶̶l̶̶̶k̶̶̶ ̶̶̶t̶̶̶o̶̶̶ ̶̶̶h̶̶̶i̶̶̶m̶̶̶ ̶̶̶a̶̶̶n̶̶̶d̶̶̶ ̶̶̶C̶̶̶h̶̶̶a̶̶̶r̶̶̶a̶̶̶ ̶̶̶b̶̶̶e̶̶̶f̶̶̶o̶̶̶r̶̶̶e̶̶̶ ̶̶̶e̶̶̶v̶̶̶e̶̶̶r̶̶̶y̶̶̶t̶̶̶h̶̶̶i̶̶̶n̶̶̶g̶̶̶ ̶w̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶w̶r̶o̶n̶g̶.̶

Flowey couldn’t help but scoff.

He continued to watch as Toriel healed and spoke softly, curiosity keeping him in place.

After what felt like forever but was probably only a couple of hours Toriel gave an apology as she explained to the incoherent person that she needed to check on their soul for further damaged. Flowey straightened up, interest piqued as this would tell him a lot about the new person.

Toriel gently pulled the soul out and even though she was blocking the person physically along with the flower bed he saw a part of their soul.

He grinned at seeing a colored soul coming out, though due to it being partly blocked he wasn’t quite sure of the color yet. A very dark red maybe? Or a deep orange or purple? He really couldn’t tell from here, but he knew it wasn't white.

It was then that he registered that there was a strange pulsing, throbbing noise filling the area, and bizarrely murkish light emitting from the soul Toriel had pulled out.

Even as far away and blocked from seeing most of it as he was, Flowey felt a sort of…wrongness from the soul but couldn’t explain why.

Toriel let out a startled noise, jerking away from the soul that slinked back into the body. She had stumbled back looking as though she had just seen something ghastly.

That reaction was entirely unexpected and made Fowey wonder what was going on with the soul for her to react like that.

“W-what are you?” Toriel said, sounding horrified, disturbed a little frightened at the same time.

 _‘What’? As in you don't think it’s human? Is it human then?_  Flowey wondered, curiosity growing.

It took her a while before she got close again. She took off the over robe as she did so, leaving her wearing the white gown as she wrapped the injured person up.

He braced himself against the wall, watching as she hurried away. The bundle she was carrying gave him nothing to work with physically, other than the possible human was too tall to be a child.

 _Well…this is new._  Flowey thought, a smile stretching across his face to the point of it was no longer a smile but a jagged slit.

How…refreshing.

 

* * *

 

You weren’t in as much pain this time.

Your vision was still blurry and while it still hurt to move, it was no where near the excruciating agony it was before. You vaguely remember swimming in and out of consciousness, and seeing a goat?

Gingerly you move your head.

You were in a room, cream colored walls. You were tucked in a bed that had an old knitted comforter on top. A dresser sat on the opposite wall, with a book shelf. The door was across from you, a full length mirror on it.

Where were you?

You tried to recall how you got here, how you had a bad day, got mad at Mia, drank yourself into a stupor and than…something about Undertale?

You couldn’t quite recall anything after that.

You wanted to lie there, sleep some more. But you needed answers. So with reluctance you moved to sit up pulling your arms out.

You stared at your hand, a shriek trying to worm its way out of you.

It was skeletal.

Panic gripped you as you threw the covers off and you could see skeletal feet at the end of the robe you were wearing.

You scrambled out of the bed, falling to the ground. You were feeling too much raw terror to care about the pain, crawling over to the mirror.

Where your face should have been, a skull with empty eye sockets greeted you instead.

You did the only thing that made sense to do.

You screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all how reviewed and kudo'd! It motivated me more than you could possibly know! It makes my day like you wouldn't believe!
> 
> Again I will try to post another chapter next week, though I am moving on Sunday....if I can't, I will try for the week after. Wish me luck?


	3. Counting your Blessings

 

When Toriel had heard that howling scream, she had thought a human had fallen and broken something. It has happened before.

So when she found a skeleton monster on the flower bed, naked and magic lashing out everywhere she was deeply shocked. The fact she had to put the poor dear asleep just to get her to stop made Toriel feel a little bad, but ultimately decided it was a sound decision (pun intended).

Once unconscious, Toriel did a quick diagnostic check on her and was horrified to find that dust had been slowly pouring out of her, and Toriel spend hours healing the poor thing before she felt it was safe enough to move the young monster.

And that was only the physical issues she had found. The young monster’s soul was a different matter entirely.

Honestly, she had only checked it to see if the poor dear had suffered major damage to her soul since monster’s souls and bodies were connected, and well…whatever that thing she pulled out had left Toriel wondering at what exactly she found.

It had been, put bluntly,  _unnatural_.

The skeleton looked like a monster, her magic felt like a monster…but that soul…

Toriel had decided to ask the monster in question, once they were well enough.

At least originally.

It had been a little over a month since she found the unfortunate skeleton monster, the first three weeks in which the poor dear was completely out cold. Than early one morning Toriel heard her screaming and rushed in, only to find the monster practically plastered to the wall near the bed. Her screaming abruptly stopping at the sight of Toriel. She remembered how the sockets got huge, and if she had eyeballs Toriel would have sworn they’d fall out.

She remembered the girl’s reaction and meltdown.

 

* * *

 

 

_"No.” the skeleton monster whispered, sockets wide._

_Toriel was on her knees, trying to make herself seem harmless. “It’s alright, you are safe.”_

_The skeleton jaw opened but no sound came out. After several moments she found her voice. “Am…Am I in Undertale?”_

_Her voice was small and rough from disuse, an undeniable underline of fear in it._

_Toriel nodded, filing that tidbit for later._

_“Underground. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins.”_

_For what felt like an eternity, though she knew it was only a minute or two the skeleton stared with an incomprehensible look on her face. Finally, she spoke. “I’m a skeleton in the Undertale. The hell.”_

_Toriel decided not to correct the girl. She seemed in shock, and the larger monster didn’t want to upset her. Suddenly the skeleton monster let out a horrified gasp._

_A look of fear and desperation overcame the girl’s features. “Your phone. I need your phone!”_

_Worried, Toriel handed the phone over._

_She tapped in a sequence of numbers, waiting for someone to pick up._

_“Pick up.” No one answered._

_She tried again._

_“Pick up.” No one replied._

_Again, she tried, hitting the numbers harder as tears building in the corner of her sockets._

_“Pick up!” No one responded._

_She was now hitting the numbers with such force that Toriel was certain she would break the phone if she didn’t intervene soon._

_“Pick up the phone!” No one answered, just a long beep that meant the phone number didn’t exist._

_“Mom!” **tap**  “Dad!”  **Tap**  “Ivan!”  **TAP** “Mia! Tammy! Mandy!” **TAP**  “PICK-”  **T-TAP**  “UP-”  **CRACK**  “THE STUPID-”  **CRUNCH**  “PHONE!”_

_The phone broke in half, magic the color of copper wavering momentarily before dispersing._

_Toriel had to hold her down to keep her from running off, the girl desperately crying for her family._

 

* * *

 

 

It has been a long couple weeks since then.

The girl was mostly catatonic, sockets often empty of an eye-light and scarcely leaving the guest bedroom. She barely responded to anything, and Toriel had to feed her liquid foods to get her to eat at all.

She feared that at this rate the girl would fall down. _If things get worse, I may have to ask my friend at the door to take her to a doctor._

Toriel felt bad for the girl. She clearly had been through something horrible a short time ago and had quite possibly lost her family in the same event. Perhaps it had something to do with the abnormal soul.

She would help where she could, but if necessary she would send the girl to a specialist, abnormal soul or not. She may no longer be queen, but she still cared for her people.

 

* * *

 

 

 You were bundled under the thick blanket, covering everything to prevent yourself from seeing the bones.

You spent most of your time trying to wrap your head around your situation, while also trying to recall how you ended up here.

You remember getting drunk, thinking that Chara was talking to you was a part of your intoxication…and then it gets fuzzy. You vaguely remembered a deal, you trading your humanity for something, but you couldn’t recall what. Then pain, lots of pain.

You have gone over this dozens of times, and nothing came up…but you kept at it because otherwise you start to realize you were trapped, in a foreign body in another world far from friends and family.

Oh god, your friends. Your  _parents_. Your brother  _Ivan_.

You were trapped in a game, in the form of a monster while they were still in your world. Did they know you were gone? Shit, how long have you been gone?

_Now stop worrying,_  a voice that sounded like your Nana said.  _Stressing and fretting over a situation ain’t helping nobody. There is a lot of good in all situation if you’re only willing to see it._

You exhaled, burrowing deeper into the blankets.

_Well, Nana always said that in a bad situation you should count your blessings. So let’s try that._  You thought.

“One, I am still alive and healthy. That is a good thing. Two, even if this isn’t my original body…or less of my original body it is still fully functional, and I don’t appear to be hindered. Three, I am in a safe place. Four, Chara took my insane deal and made it literal.”

You shuddered at that, thanking whatever deity listened to gamers who got sucked into their favorite games for that small mercy. Had Chara not taken you literally when you stupidly sold your humanity, there was a very real possibility that Frisk wouldn’t be the only homicidal human around.

Because when it boiled down, you weren’t entirely sure that a soul and humanity was different from each other. Humanity had wide usage of ideas, ideals, thoughts, philosophies, nature and more understandings that fell under the word.

Perhaps it was simply because Chara was bored and wanted to see what a human –turned –monster would do.

Or maybe it was because Chara was supposed to be a child, and as a human child raised by monsters, Chara defined things differently. Perhaps to them, humanity stood for a race.

You dropped your head into the comforter. “Five, you still have your soul. Six, Toriel has been nice to you. Seven, you were not dropped off in the Horrortale or Underfell or any other scary offshoot of Undertale. I…I can’t think of anything else, and seven is suppose to be lucky so I’ll stop there…and stop talking to myself out loud.”

So... what now?

You could get out, leave the Underground…then what?

Even if you were still human, you couldn’t go home. Home was on a different plane of reality. You were stuck here.

You could try and make another deal with Chara but considering you still don’t remember all the details from the first one you really didn’t want to try your luck.

This was like with the little mermaid, only you don’t know what the full deal entailed, nor if you needed to complete something before you turned to seafoam…or dust.

You couldn’t go home.

_So, make the best of a shitty situation, darlin’._  Nana’s voice responded in her trademark exasperated way.

You could…live here. In the Underground. You’d blend in, perhaps find a market place to work at or try a new profession. You could adapt to this new life. It would be hard, but you could do it. Maybe in time you could even be happy. 

You could become a monster of the Underground.

But first…you need to be able to look at yourself without flinching.

Slowly you pull out you hand, staring at it. it was an off-white color, the phalanges long and portioned right, and when you moved it they moved accordingly but the metacarpal bones were wider and thicker than you believed it should be. It looked wrong, and you took enough classes to realize that.

That… isn’t how human bones were supposed to look.

You looked back at the mirror still hanging on the door, and with uncertainty you remove the blanket and walk in front of it. Slowly you removed the robe Toriel had given you, letting it hit the ground.

You stared at the skull in the mirror, examining it.

The more you looked, the less it looked like a human skull. Hesitantly you winked, and the socket winked back. Like Sans you had a light in your sockets, and as you looked one way it followed, proving that it was your monster equivalent of a pupil. Your mandible was fused to the cranium, the bone more pliable than humans ever would be which allowed you to still make expressions. This pliable bone also acted bizarrely like lips, hiding your teeth, though the “lips” indented themselves in a way that resembles teeth.  If it wasn’t for the empty sockets you probably would have thought you were wearing Day of the Dead make up.

You raised your hand and arm, noting how the radius and ulna were much thicker than humans were. In fact, all the bones you’ve seen so far were thicker and wider, thick enough that if you hadn’t been able to see through the gaps you would have assumed you were wearing an off-white sleeve with dark lines.

_I look like I’m wearing a stylized skeleton suit._  You thought, at least until you saw your spine. There, between your rib cage to your pelvis was a large empty space where only an unusually dense spine showed.

Your ribs were closer, larger. Hesitantly you felt them, your fingers gently clacking against the bone.  _So… am I still female? I don’t have boobs or anything between my legs, so how do I tell? Please still be female, I can only take so many changes._

Deciding that this line of thought needed to be examined at a saner time, you shelf it and continue your inspection.

Your legs were probably the least human skeleton looking of your entire body, looking more like your human legs had. You were a runner and did a lot of work on your feet which gave you toned legs, and for some reason it looked like that detail carried over in your transformation.

 Over all your skeleton looked willowier than a normal human skeleton did, with wider pelvis. You looked softer than a skeleton should look.

You took a half turn, examine you back.

On your back was…a pair of broken bones? No, wings. Skeletal bird wings maybe half the size if your hand. You could only stare at them incomprehensibly, before decided to just roll with it.

_You know what, sure. Why wouldn’t I have skeletal birdie wings that look completely useless? Makes perfect sense._  You groaned, deciding you were done and put the robe back on.

Looking back, you stared at the skeleton in the mirror and came to the realization that this was you, probably for the rest of your life.

You glared at the reflection.

You were done crying and screaming. This was your life now. And if you did get slapped with an invisible price tag, you’ll deal with it.

With another too deep breath, you opened the door and walked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, good news is that I still managed a chapter.
> 
> Sorry if the main character is annoying you, I wanted to make her situation a little more realistic (or as realistic as you can get in her situation). I'm still fleshing her out (hee-hee) so please be patient. We should be getting into the bones of the story in another chapter or two. 
> 
> If you have questions or critiques, leave a review but don't be an ass about them (nothing kills a writers drive faster than a nasty worded review aimed to belittle). If you liked it either review or leave a kudos.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it! Next chapter should be posted sometime next week.


	4. Ninety Percent Truths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333.  
> Inspired by Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise.
> 
> If you haven't read their works, go and do it. They are incredible!

Shuffling down the hall, you quietly tried to think of a story to tell while trying to ignore the clacking your feet made on the wood.

What were you going to say? _I’m a college student who works retail and grew up on a little farm with my family, have the social skills of a rock and would rather spend my whole day in doors on a computer than go out and meet people. Oh, and I used to be human and your world is a game from where I’m from._

Yeah nooooo.

Aside from trying to come up with a back story, you had no idea where to go after this. You had no home, no friends in this place. You didn’t even know if your skills in retail or farm work would be helpful.

If you had to be honest, you hoped Toriel would let you stay. While you were certain you’d find employment elsewhere in the Underground, you really didn’t want to leave a place you knew was safe.

Would Toriel let you stay? Only one way to find out.

You stepped into the dining room, looking around at the neat and tidy room.

“Uh, hello?” you called out, nervous.

You froze when Toriel emerged from the kitchen, all thought scattered unhelpfully at the sight of the goat monster. Luckily, she seemed to have froze too, which gave you a moment to try and come up with something intelligent to say.

“Um, hi?”

_Well done kiddo,_ Nana voice said sarcastically. _You managed say a full word without screaming it at her. Now try some more._

“Uh, um, nice place you got here.” You said wincing at your words. Really? Are you going for most awkward conversationalist ever award?

**~~ This conversation is filling you with irresolution. ~~ **

Ivan would probably have dope slapped you by now and taken over conversation, or Mia would have slide in with grace and gotten good topics going, Mandy would have launched into the latest hijinks her nephews were doing, hell even Tammy who hated people could have come up with something better!

You were certain that if Nana was still alive she’d be loudly wondering how an introvert was born to a family of extraverts, with your dad making jokes to lighten the mood while mom would have just smiled and encouraged you to keep trying.

You used that image of your loved ones to bolster yourself and plunged headfirst into this awkwardness.

“I-It’s a lovely home, and I don’t know what you’re cooking but it smells heavenly, and-and- oh! Books! I love books, history is my favorite subject, as well as art and how to fix things, I used to try and replicate the things I read about, like this one time my brother and I tried to make a trebuchet and ended up breaking one of the kitchen windows, or once my Dad and I create a geyser out of coke and mentos and managed to hit one of the chickens, and I’m rambling aren’t I? Dumb question, of course I’m rambling, still am-”

Your rambling was cut off by a stifled snort, and you looked up to see Toriel holding back laughter.

You felt yourself flush, though you had no idea how you did it. You smiled though, laughter was better than you had hoped for.

Testing the waters, you decided a quick attempt at a pun might further help. “S-sorry. Nervous. I tend to be a real numbskull when it happens.”

The stifled laughter turned into an out loud laugh, and you felt a little more at ease.

**_~~ Toriel shaking with laughter at your silly pun fills you with determination. ~~ _ **

_Well, it’s a start. Now try introducing yourself,_ A thought that sounded like Mom said.

“I-I’m Ivory.” You stuttered, pulling at the fabric of your sleeves and giving what you hoped looked like a friendly smile.

Toriel tilted her head, smiling kindly at you. “Nice to meet you, Ivory the Skeleton. I am Toriel, keeper of the Ruins.”

She then got a rather mischievous glint in her large eyes. “Ivory bet your parents had fun picking your name out, but it is rather appropriate. I’m sure it matches your complexion.”

It takes you longer than you are willing to admit figuring out what Toriel was punning about. And when you did, you groaned and buried your face in your hands. _Oh god, my name is now a pun! Mom, Dad! What possessed you to name me Ivory again?!_

Still, you felt a bubble of laughter trying to escape your throat…only for it to eject in peals of cackles at the realization you don’t have a throat anymore.

You knew that your laughter probably sounded a bit demented, but after all that you have gone through recently you felt that a good laugh was what the doctor prescribed, and you were determined to accept your insane circumstance. If that meat not questioning things and rolling with it, then so be it.

Toriel moved towards you, guiding you to the table. Once seated she gave you a gently pat on the back, as though she feared to put further strength into it.

Your deranged sounding laughter finally died done and you wiped away the tears that had built in the corner of your sockets, leaving you feeling embarrassed for your much-needed laughter.

You looked to Toriel who had taken the seat across from you. “Sorry, ma’am.”

The former queen smiled kindly at you. “Don’t be. I may not know your situation, but I can see you have underwent something… distressing recently.”

You wanted to laugh at that. Distressing was putting it mildly. Instead you nodded.

“You can say that again.” You murmured.

“Would you like tea?” Toriel inquired already getting up. “And how hungry are you? You haven’t been eating a whole lot since I found you.”

You have been so nervous that you hadn’t noticed you felt famished (you studiously ignored the fact you had no stomach and should not be able to feel hunger. You were a monster now, human anatomy and logic had no hold over you anymore).

“Um, yes please.”

“Where are you from?” Toriel asked from the kitchen.

You felt a wave of panic hit you. “Um, could you tell me where I am?” You asked instead. You knew where you were but acting ignorant might help in the long run.

Toriel came out with a tray of tea, and pie that had a gray sort of filling to it. Placing both tea and pie in front of you, she retook her seat, a cup in her hand (paw?). “The Ruins.”

 A spark of an idea lit in your mind. It was a bad idea, with a good chance of blowing up in your face and make things more complicated, but so long as Frisk never breaks the barrier nobody will ever be able to confirm it. And frankly, you didn’t know what else to explain how you got here.

In the most credibly confused tone you had you asked, “So…I really am in the Underground?”

Now Torel was giving you a look that made you want to rub the back of your head. “Ivory, please answer me. Where are you from?”

You wondered if Toriel was unintentionally using her queen voice because you wanted to hide under the table.

But you had a plan- a half-baked concoction of a plan- that required you lying in a convincing manner.

_Remember this sweetie, the best lies are ninety percent truth. Nana_ words whispered, a pearl of wisdom she once told you. You never considered yourself a liar, in this case it was very much necessary.

Nervously you swiped your hand across you’re the back of your head before you could catch yourself, having momentarily forgotten you didn’t have hair. Taking a too deep breath you spoke.

“I from the surface.”

Toriel’s gaze sharpened on to you, surprise clear on her face. You hurried along, wringing your hands under the table. _Ninety percent truth,_ was your mental mantra.

“I grew up there with my parents, Nana and brother. Grandpa had a farm and when he passed away Nana took over it with Dad. Spent pretty much most of my life there, used to help feed the livestock but mostly I just watched over my brother, Ivan. He’s seven years younger than me, so I always felt that I had to keep him safe, you know? He made it hard at times because he is adventurous and rambunctious but a sweetie nonetheless. And when Nana passed away I started doing more around the farm to help.” You knew you were rambling, but so far everything you’ve said was true. You had grown up on a farm, you had a close relationship with your brother. You just left out the fact you still went to school like any other kid and had gone off to college in a nearby town that was five hours away from home.

Toriel looked as though you had dropped an anvil on her head. Her mouth worked soundlessly for a few minutes before she found her words.

“There are still monsters on the surface?” she whispered, sounding both shocked and excited.

_And here is the ten percent falsehood,_ you thought, silently apologizing to Toriel.

“Nana said that there were hidden communities in secret locations. But she hadn’t been to one since she was a young, preferring the farms relative isolation from, well, everyone. I haven’t ever been to one and, to be honest I don’t even know if my Dad has ever been to one either. My parents love telling me and Ivan how they met as youths and were childhood honeys but from what I gathered, Mom used to be from one of the hidden communities, but they never really talked about it. I honestly don’t know where any are.” The lie left a bitter taste in your mouth.

“How…how did you end up here?” Toriel said, looking overwhelmed.

“I…” you started before sighing. How were you going to explain this? You couldn’t very well tell her the truth.

_Oh the answer to that is simple, I got drunk and made a deal with your deceased adopted child who may or may not be an eldritch abomination._

Yeah, that would go over well.

_Ninety percent truth,_ you thought with a too deep breath.

“I don’t know. I was at home relaxing when suddenly I was in pain, like my bones were being reduced to mush and then I woke up in your guest room.” You said, rubbing your palm on your robe.

**_~~ You felt your lies crawling on your back. ~~ _ **

The upset look on Toriel’s face made you quickly add one last truth to an otherwise heap of lies. “Outside of my family, you are the first monster I have met.”

Toriel looked both surprised and saddened by this. “I am the first?”

“Yup. I have never met a monster before you.” That least was the truth. But something nagged at you.

“You believe me? About being from the surface?”

“Why wouldn’t I? It does explain why I found you at one of the few entrances into the Underground. While it sounds unbelievable, I am trusting you are being honest, and frankly your reaction when you woke up couldn’t have been fake. But to find out there was still monsters on the surface,” she said, looking delighted, obliviously to your discomfort.

“Yeah, it does sound far-fetched.” You mumbled, taking a large sip of your tea. Now that you had your back story sorted, you had to figure out where to stay.

“Um, is there a house I could stay at?” at the look of surprise on the goat monsters face you hurried along.

“I don’t know anything about the Underground outside of stories,” and all game plying and lurking around the fandom, “and I will need a job and eventually a home. But I kinda need to stay somewhere until I can support myself.  Where am I going to go?”

“You can stay here for as long as you need to.”

You felt a surge of shock and hope. “Really?”

"Why, of course," the goat affirmed. " Originally the room you’re staying in was going to be renovated but I think it would be a better use to let you have it. And beside you have nowhere to go, and I won’t abandon you in an unknown place.”

"You are truly generous..." You spoke softly, feeling hope start to swell inside you. This was the best news you’ve had since you woke up!

With gusto you ate the pie, just now registering the strange flavor. It was delicious but odd. You wondered out loud about the flavor, to which Toriel kindly told you it was snail. It only stopped you for a moment before you shrugged. You’ve eaten weirder things.

Once the pie was devoured and tea refilled, Toriel asked you to remain seated to discuss one more thing.

“Now I know you are still recovering, but I’d like to discuss your soul.”

You tilted your head, confused at the direction of the conversation. “My soul?"

Was something wrong with it? Or…did you still have a colored one?

“I know it isn’t my business, and that you were probably being attacked when it happened, quite possibly during the same event that led you down here. I am not judging you, but I want you to be honest with me.” Toriel spoke, looking at you in a way that made you feel knee high to her, and even if you hadn’t known about the game or anything about the characters you would have immediately known from the tone alone that she was once a mother.

“Did you kill a human and absorbed their soul?”

_What._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We got another chapter out! Woohoo!
> 
> Thanks to all who read this, you help keep me inspired!


	5. Anatomically Correct Soul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap, this is so bad. It took for ever to write, and it is so tiny...

You were fairly certain that you resembled a fish at that moment, staring at Toriel with a look of utter bewilderment.

_Where did that question come from?!_

Toriel was giving you a look you couldn’t decipher, but it made you want to dig a hole in the floor and hop in it.

“W-what? I’ve never killed anybody!”

Toriel raised a single eyebrow. “Are you certain?”

Now you were flabbergasted, and more than a little offended at the tone.

“How would I _not_ know if I killed somebody?! I may not be the most observant person in the world but even I would remember something like that!”  You hadn’t meant to yell, or flap your arms around like some cartoon character but you were both alarmed at the string of questions and worried about what your soul looked like that Toriel’s first question on the subject was to inquire if you murdered anybody.

“I promise on my family, where ever they are, that I have never killed anyone nor harvested their soul.” That was a fact you knew was an honest to god truth. Wait, did your stats say something else? Did you have an abnormal LOVE level or EXP? If that is the problem, you may need to smack Chara if you see them again for messing with your stats.

The goat monster held up a hand in a pacifying manner. “I apologize If I offended you.  When I found you, you were badly injured and in such a state of pain I had to help you sleep. After I did everything to heal your body I wanted to ensure the damage done to you was purely physical, so I examined your soul.” She paused, looking at you like she was expecting an outburst. When you motioned her to continue her tale, she made that frown again but nonetheless continued. “My examining of your soul had left me…with questions. “

 _Maybe I should bolt out the ruins while I still can._ You immediately discarded that thought. Sans was on that side of that door and under no circumstances did you want him near your soul. You liked him a lot (he was your third favorite character, favorite one and two will forever be Papyrus and Alphys), but he was scarily observant, and very good at reading people. If by some horrid twist of fate you ended up on that side of the door, you hoped being a monster would make him overlook you.

You stared up at Toriel, hoping the anxiety you felt wasn’t obvious. “What, exactly brought about that question?”

Toriel took a sip from her cup before continuing, eyes still trained on you. “My question came due to two reasons, but first I would like to know if you are aware you have coloring in your soul?”

A look of confusion must have swept across your skull, because she added, “Monsters can’t have colored souls… unless they took it from a human.”

“I…colored soul?” You mumbled, feeling both relieved and apprehensive over this news. Your stats might be fine (yay!), but you were a monster with a colored soul (not-yay).

You must have looked appropriately befuddled, because Toriel entire countenance softened. “Part of your soul is colored. It looked as though it didn’t know how to mix with the white part. I didn’t look at it for long.”

You nodded, unsure what else you could do. “Okay, I have a partially colored soul. Okay. Weird. What was the second reason?”

A look of discomfort settled on the goat monster’s features. “The shape of your soul.”

What? “The shape of my soul?”

“Yes, it is… unusual.”

You couldn’t help but notice the tone she used when saying ‘unusual’ was like how one would say ‘nightmarish’.

“Wh-what’s wrong with the shape of my soul? Can you pull it out and show me?”

You wonder what you said that made Toriel look at you like that (like you had just propositioned her in an obscene way), but she agreed... after asking you several times if you were sure and if you were that she was only doing this to help you and nothing more. You agreed easily, giving her a look that you hoped indicated your confusion at her insistence. She must of gotten it because while she still looked uncomfortable she no longer looking at you like you had copped a feel.

Silently Toriel gently pulled, and you felt a deeply bizarre feeling or wrongness as your soul came out, as though your soul protested at being moved from your…body.

You stared at your soul, feeling disbelief.

The color of your soul was strange enough to mark you as different as they were a vivid swirling of white and copper that would not mix, much like water and oil. But as inexplicable as the coloring of your soul was, it had nothing to the shape of your soul.

Your soul looked like an anatomically correct heart, pumping and pulsing, veiny, with the arteries, aorta and vena cava seemingly still attached to your skeletal body, though fading where it connected. You could hear it beating like a real heart, the sound loud to you and a strange pulse ran through you in time with beating of the faux-heart.

You felt nauseated just looking at it. You looked at Toriel, who too looked as though she was deeply disturbed at the sight of your soul. Truth be told, she looked about ready to shove your soul back in and do what your brother would call the ‘heebie jeebies dance’.

 _It must look alien to her,_ you thought suddenly conscious at just how different you were from the monsters. Looking back at the pulsing, beating discolored organ-like soul, you suddenly became very aware of the stare Toriel was giving you and finally had a word for the look she had been giving you since starting this conversation.

Apprehensive. Toriel was apprehensive of you because you have a freakish soul. A colored freakish soul.

 _Oh, shit flakes_. You mentally swore. You looked back at the thing, wondering if it was like that due to the deal, or where you were from.

_How the hell did that happen?! Why does it look like that?!_

“I do not know the answers to either of those questions.” Toriel said, making you realize that you had voiced your thoughts out loud.

You felt yourself flush, looking sheepish. “S-sorry. Um, could you put that-that thing away? Please? I’ve seen enough of it.”

In a different scenario you might have been offended with how quickly Toriel put your soul back, but honestly you really couldn’t blame her. It must look like something straight out of a horror story.

You drained your cup, wishing it was whiskey. An uncomfortable quiet hung between the two of you, absurdity loud to you. _The sound of silence indeed,_ you thought as you fiddled with your cup.

“Am I-” _a freak of nature?_   “deformed?” you croaked out, unsure how to even ask about this, or what to ask. Was there anything in this world to explain _that_ away?

The uncertain look on Toriel’s face made your ~~nonexistent~~ guts churn.

Neither of you noticed the flower by the entrance of the room, if you had you would have freaked out at the way he had looked at your soul. 

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but chapter nonetheless. Enjoy!
> 
> Soooo, I have not thought of a romance for Ivory yet. Who do you want to see her with? And Why?


	6. Reality: Missing

 

Mia poured herself another cup of coffee, trying to stay busy so she didn’t have to look at those pleading eyes.

It had been over two months since Ivory’s disappearance and there were still no leads. When Mia had woken that morning, she had assumed her friend had gone to work. Mia went about her day as usual, though she did pick up another pack of beer to appease her fellow gamer.

She started becoming concerned when Ivory’s quitting time had come and gone, and Mandy suggested a quick call to assure Ivory was okay.

Mia recalled the block of ice that settled in her gut when she heard Ivory’s phone going off in her bedroom. After a quick check, Mia and Mandy discovered that all of Ivory’s things were still there; phone, keys, wallet, purse and reading glasses. Everything she normally took with her was still here.

Mandy had called Ivory’s workplace, only to find out that Ivory never made it in. No call, no show, no anything.

Tammy had come home to a panicking Mia and a fretting Mandy and did the logical thing: call the police.

After that it was a bit of a blur for Mia. She remembered the police asking her questions but not the questions themselves. She remembered showing the police her friends room but couldn’t recall much after that. She remembered the police asking all three of them if they recalled Ivory leaving, heard anything the night before, if they recalled Ivory mentioning seeing anyone.

After the police did their job, they told them to inform them if Ivory returned. If not, they would keep them informed on the search.

Less than a week later, Ivory’s brother showed up. The police had informed Ivory’s family of her missing, and Ivan had refused to sit at home and do nothing. He showed up, a bag at his side, informing them that until Ivory was found he was staying, having found a job and everything. None of them had the heart to make him leave, not when he was practically begging them to let him stay so he could search for Ivory.

He had been there ever since, paying Ivory’s side of rent because he refused to leave, asking everyone who was even remotely connected to Ivory everything he could think of in his quest to find her, none getting more questions than Mia, Mandy and Tammy.

“Mia, please. Anything, anything at all.” Came the deep voice behind her, polite yet firm. Mia sighed, finally looking at him.

Mia didn’t know his exact age but did know he was older than eighteen but younger than twenty-one. He was a tall guy, easy over six and half feet, and it was pretty obvious he did manual labor at his parent’s farm as he was a thick boy, full of muscles.

“Ivan, I’ve told you and the police everything I could! I want her back as much as you do!” came the snappish reply.

Mia had known Ivory for about four years now, and thought the introvert was the closest thing she had to a sister. She had met the farm girl in their freshman year at the college, Mia having come to the class late due to the storm outside and had gotten soaked in the down pour. She had been trying to get to class when she had ran into Ivory. Contrary to Ivory’s belief that she wasn’t rememberable, Mia remembered her because at the time Ivory had dyed her hair neon pink, was carrying a worn- out backpack, had a shirt that said “Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult” with a Deadpool hoodie, while wearing cargo shorts with polka dot stockings and the world’s most ugly crocs. Ivory looked half dead from being hung over and caffeine deprived, yet in her groggy state took one look at the drenched Mia and dragged the girl to the bathroom, muttering about how Mia would catch her death in that outfit. Ivory apparently had her work uniform in the bag and handed the pants to Mia along with the Deadpool hoodie and told her to return them eventually. The pants were long on her and she practically drowned in the hoodie, but Mia thought that was a great start to a friendship.

It wasn’t the smoothest friendship she had, they bickered on certain subjects, and while Mia was loud and assertive, Ivory was more likely to just roll over and let people walk all over her (unless love ones were the ones getting harassed, in which case Ivory showed to have a spine), and that attitude irked Mia like nobody’s business, but when Mia had finally had come out of the closet to her parents and was summarily kicked out, Ivory showed more love and loyalty than Mia had ever previously known. Shortly after that they met the perpetually optimistic Mandy and the perpetually pessimist Tammy, the former a recently divorced activist who had gotten out of a abusive relationship and the later a forty-something workaholic who tended to chew people to bits. Mia counted them among her close friends and now her best friend had gone missing, with absolutely no trace.

Ivan momentarily looked like a kicked puppy, making Mia wish she hadn’t snapped at him. Ivan had bags under his eyes, and the normally effervescent guy was a ball of worry and stress. Ivan adored his sister as much as Ivory adored him. If Mia was this worried about her, she knew Ivan and his parents were worse off.

“Sorry, Ivan. I promise, if there was anything else I’d have told you.”

“Well, can you tell me what she was doing when you last saw her?” he pleaded.

“I already told you. I was playing a game, she got mad at my choices in the game, took all the beer and stayed in her room. Last I saw of her.”

Ivan wouldn’t be deterred. “Well, what game were you playing? One time, Ivory got ticked at me for killing in Dishonor and deleted the game from our system. I was so pissed when she did that.”

Mia snorted. That sounded like Ivory, the little “Happy Endings or bust” gamer. Ivory loved happy endings, and always tried to achieve those.

Mia hadn’t played anything since that night, too worried to care about gaming.

“Undertale, I think.”

Ivan sadly smiled at that. “That’s one of her favorites, though I think it’s mostly due to the fandom. Thanks Mia…sorry to bother.”

He gave a tight smile, grabbing his keys for work. “Let me know if anything changes.”

“I will. Be safe.” Mia called as he left.

Mia sighed, dumping her coffee in the sink. Now that he was gone, Mia allowed the stress and worry she kept hidden out, sitting heavily onto her chair. Ivory disappearance was frightening in many ways, not just because it meant something nefarious had happened to her best friend, but happened right under her nose. Questions she kept at bay surged at her: _Why hadn't we heard anything yet? Had someone broken in and kidnapped her while we slept? Was she even alive?!_

Mia forcibly pushed those thoughts away, knowing it would lead to another breakdown and she couldn't do that. Not so soon after the last one.

She needed a distraction, and without really thinking about it Mia made her way to the shared computer. She opened it, looking for the icon of Undertale. After a few seconds of fruitless searching, Mia snorted.

_So, she did delete the game. Ass._ Mia thought fondly. She went into the Steam account, intending to play the game again. Maybe it would allow her some calm, and maybe she’d not kill anyone, for Ivory’s sake.

Mia frowned, checking through the Steam games until she found it.

Undertale was blinking red.

Mia stared at the oddity, and moved to push it-

A loud chirping noise startled her, causing her to cuss loudly. After a quick pat down, she found her phone, answering. It was her boss, needing her to come in due to several call outs. Normally she wouldn’t have agreed but she really needed to stay busy and work was a good way for that.

She got up to get ready, Undertale pushed out of her mind.

The Undertale icon stopped blinking red.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always wondered in fics where a person is taken to another world how the people they've left behind are affected. I haven't found a lot fics that explored that, and wanted to take a try at it. I don't know if I got the worry and stress Mia is feeling over right, but there will be more povs from her and others from reality in the future.


	7. Magical Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333.  
> Inspired by Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise.  
> I want to do a shout out for Kamari333 and Tyrant_Tortoise, both of who have written incredible works that inspired me. If you have not read their work, go now. You are missing out!

Standing outside Toriel’s room, you pulled at your sleeve and new gloves. Fidgeting in place you waited impatiently for Toriel exit her room, feeling like you were eight again and waiting for your parents to leave.

You have officially been here for two months and one week. Two months and one week since you last talked to friends and family. Nine weeks since you seen sunlight. Sixty-seven days since you were human. You liked to think you were getting the hang of it, even when your body did something you didn’t understand, still looked up in hopes of seeing sunlight, and tried hard not to cry when you remembered you were never going home tried to overwhelm you-

 _No._ you thought with a shuttering breath ~~how are you breathing~~. _Positives, positive thinking. Recite the list if necessary._

The List of Blessings, as you were mentally calling it, had grown, anchoring you in the now and away from things that left you in tears. Some of the things on it were genuine appreciations (such as having fresh food and water available, and electricity) while some of it was silly (like not needing to shave, or not having to worry about your weight).

_Think positives, like how everyone here is friendly, nobody wants you to leave, you aren’t affected by temperature like you were as a human, you are safe, and Toriel helped make you a robe to accommodate the wings._

That last one was a recent and constant addition. You hadn’t known wings could be so bothersome; they clacked and fluttered when you were nervous or excited, they got stuck in your clothes, it was impossible to sleep on your back, and they didn’t appear to be useful in anything other than to be a nuisance. You were grateful Toriel had created the robe you were wearing because it allowed the wings out and still zippered up around your neck like a collar without looking like a backless dress, more like a small window ~~only downside is that everyone can see them now~~. It looked similar to hers but made to fit you.

_You have not seen any signs of Flowey, Sans is still on the other side, and as long as nobody sees your soul Undyne, Mettaton and Asgore will not hunt you down and harvest your soul… they may still not want if they saw it but better safe than sorry, and… and… oh yeah, you got to see Home!_

That thought brightened your melancholy mood.

Home, the city. The first time you saw that place had been when Toriel went shopping for food and a new phone and you practically begged to go with, having stated you really didn’t want to be left alone, and upon seeing the former capitol you had been in awe. It had an ancient feel to it, and while most of the population had left, the city was still being used by those who stayed though most of it remained empty. It also showed you that the Ruins themselves were even bigger than you thought. It baffled you how such a massive place could be created underground. You wanted to explore it but your desire to be safe won out. Toriel had seen how enthralled you had been and had promised the two of you would visit it again.

You perked when the door open, the goat monster smiling when she saw you twiddling by the door.

With a smile that made you yearn to see your own mother, Toriel asked if you were ready to leave to, you nodded after fiddling with your gloves again.

She had made your new robe but had allowed you to get the new boots and gloves when you had gone shopping with her. You stayed with wearing the robe as it covered everything, as well as a pair of leggings. Boots were something you were comfortable with, having needed them on the farm while the gloves came up to your radius and ulna, hiding them from your immediate sight and allowing you a semblance of peace at not seeing the bones. Perhaps it was a little cowardly to try and cover everything, but you needed it. In time you’d accept that you were literally all bones but now was not that time.

The two of you exited the house, you trailing behind Toriel as she did her rounds. She had offered to let you stay in the house, but you were resolute in your desire to never be left entirely alone. You hadn’t lied to her when you said you hadn’t wanted to be left alone, allowing her to draw whatever conclusion she had. Better Toriel believed you were just scared of a new place or whatever else she wanted to believe, because the truth was you did not want to have a run-in with the psychotic flower himself and it was most likely to happen if you were by yourself.

This of course meant you had to socialize because Toriel liked to talk to the locals during her rounds, and she made a point to introduce you to every single monster the two of you encountered along the way.

Toriel had introduced you as a new resident, and pretty much all the monsters had done their best to make you feel welcomed. It was rather sweet of them, especially since leaving the farm and your tiny community you hadn’t felt very welcomed in your new life as a city girl. You didn’t do well with online classes and had decided to move to the nearest city that had the community college you applied for. It was a struggle, going from one place where everybody knows everybody to total strangers. You recalled how you spent the first year nearly friendless until you met Mia, but hadn’t allowed it to bother you, not while you were too busy with both a job and education.

Here it was like joining a community similar to your old town.

You hoped you hadn’t in obvious in your gawking at the monsters you met but had a feeling you failed. You have only seen these monsters in pixelate style, which made them cute. Here in life, you had to abort certain questions you wanted to ask, like how can a astigmatism’s body reform from giant eye to grinning fiend in near seconds, or how the various monsters could move and if they had muscles as they were made from magic, how and why did they turn to dust, or how you could understand all the monsters even the once that clearly don’t have mouths. You still asked questions, but it was more along the lines of job, family, livelihood, etcetera.

This opened a new line of questions, as you found out that the frogs acted as stone masons and kept the walls of the ruins in good condition, the vegetoids could magically produce food and were the main family that supplied the ruins with sustenance, and the whimsuns tended to keep the place clean, just to name a few.

There were a few setbacks, like how you screamed at a couple of the bug monsters in fear. You did try to apologies but wasn’t very successful.

The rounds usually took about three hours, longer if Toriel had to act as a mediator in a dispute or fight. You observed the people, asked the questions you thought would be polite or didn’t shed too much light on your ignorance, and avoided all confrontations.

You were a little proud of the fact you had not actually had to fight anybody yet, an unexpected perk of looking like a monster and having the reputation of being terrified of everything. Being known as a craven coward had never felt so protective.

As you traveled, you noticed there were more Loox’s out than usual. More than all the previous encounters any way. Toriel must have seen your confusion because she informed you that the Loox’s were having a family get together.

You nodded, feeling envy they could get together. Needing something to think about you turned to a topic you normally avoided: your soul.

While you had been there for over two months, it had been two weeks since that soul reveal.

The two of you were avoiding the whole soul issue, and for that you were grateful.

Admittedly, Toriel’s avoidance of the topic might have had something to do with how you handled it after she put your soul back in…

 

* * *

 

 

_“Am I deformed?” you croaked out, unsure how to even ask about this, or what to ask. Was there anything in this world to explain_ _that_ _away?_

_The uncertain look on Toriel’s face made your ~~nonexistent~~  guts churn._

_The silence between you and the goat monster was profound and deeply uncomfortable. You squirmed in your seat, as Toriel held a thoughtful look on her face, eyes a little hazy._

_Worry, disbelief, confusion, disgust and fear swirled inside you with the force of a tempest, and you felt as though the beating of that bizarre soul was still audible._

_You had to do something,_ anything _to change the topic or at least the atmosphere of the room._

_“SO!” you said, loudly, jolting Toriel out of her thoughts as you made a very clear and distinct decision to ignore the elephant in the room._

_“The pie was amazing! Never ate snails before but I’m glad I tried it! I hope we can have more later, like now and focus on discussing something else entirely!” you spoke in a loud and dramatic way, having decided to throw tact out the window and channel your inner Papyrus and hoped you could pull it off._

_A look of amusement graced Toriel’s face, and she showed mercy to you by allowing your unashamed attempt at changing the subject to work._

 

* * *

 

 

“Ivory?”

You jerked, looking to where Toriel was, noticing she was further ahead than you thought.

Walking up to her, you murmured an apology stating you got lost in thought.

Just as the two of you turned the corner a white figure drifted past, and you swore you saw headphones on it.

Was that Napstablook?

You turned to get a better look, but the figure was already gone.

* * *

 

 

Toriel was partly done with her rounds, chatting with the locals and checking if humans (or more monsters) had fallen down the hole.

She had offered to let Ivory stay behind, but the girl was obdurate about being with her as she checked on her puzzles and did her duties. Toriel had asked why the girl was so adamant, to which Ivory said she really didn’t want to be left alone, fear and anxiety rolling off the skeleton monster like a noxious cloud.

Toriel could accept that. The girl was pretty much a stranger in strange lands, with Toriel being the closest thing she had to a friend.

That being said, Toriel was determined to help Ivory feel welcomed, and had started by shopping for her and introducing the displaced monster to the other residence of the ruins.

After the first few interactions with the other residents, the Ruin keeper believed the girl’s story about Toriel being the first monster she met outside her family. The girl’s honest awe as she met these people, coupled with her questions was doing a great job in giving Toriel insight on just how little Ivory knew about her own race.

It hadn’t been entirely smooth interactions, Ivory looked scared of the Migosps and had refused to let go of Toriel when she had introduced them. Then a Whimsun accidently flew at Ivory, who proceeded to scream and run in the opposite direction. Later Ivory tried to apologize to the Whimsun, who burst into tears and fled, making Ivory look like a kicked sentry dog.

Toriel also noted how Ivory did not different between humans from monsters. Even when she had loudly defended herself from her questioning, she had not drawn any difference from the two races.

Ivory had said she didn’t kill or taken the soul from _anybody_ , not any _human_.

There was also the fact that the more Toriel observed Ivory, the more she was convinced that Ivory did not identify as a monster. The girl knew she was a monster, but she had been so exposed to humanity for so long with so little monster interaction that she might view herself as more human.

 It reminded Toriel of Chara.

Chara had been six when they had fallen and taken in by the royal family. Chara fall hadn’t been an accident, she remembered how Chara once told them that they had ran away from an abusive home and was chased by their cruel parents. Chara had jumped in to escape them, saying they would have rather deal with potentially dying than getting taken back to that home.

After six years of loving and helping Chara adjust to the Underground, Toriel would reminisce how after the second year Chara stopped referring to themselves as human. They never called themselves a monster, but it was obvious that Chara thought of themselves as such. In six years Chara went from a quiet, stern faced child who often cried to a smiling happy child that wanted to help monsters.

Remembering Chara made Toriel’s soul hurt. Asriel was eleven when he died, Chara twelve. Died barely a week apart. It has been nearly two centuries since her children’s death and it still hurt, and the pain had never gone away.

“Ms. Tori? Are you okay?” Ivory’s voice broke through the despondent thoughts.

“Ah, yes. Did you need something my child?”

Ivory looked past her, and Toriel followed her sight until she saw the several Loox’s families. The adults seemed to be arguing, while the children ran around in their striped shirts. A couple were loudly bickering, taunting each other, causing Toriel to sigh. Loox were notorious for bullying others but got upset when others bullied them.

“Um, those guys appear to be about ready to come to blows and, um, there are a lot of kids here. What if the kids get in the middle of it?” Ivory said nervously, tugging her sleeve as Toriel felt the apprehension roll off the skeleton. It was potent enough that several of the adult’s present looked at Ivory in concern, stopping their conversations.

Seeing this spurred Toriel into action, and within an hour got most of the adult Loox’s to stop fighting. The only ones she was having trouble with were a couple, one Loox and the other an Astigmatism who were still bickering.

Toriel had a feeling it would be a while before she would make head way with these two, so she looked back at Ivory. She was surprised to see Ivory further away and was apparently playing with the children. In fact she appeared to be telling them a story, something about a hero of courage who had been tricked into transforming into a 'deku shrub monster' by a mischievous monster named Skull Kid (stories from the surface?). 

It made Toriel smile, seeing Ivory interacting with others. Perhaps in time Ivory would feel safe around others and come clean about her past.

Toriel knew that some of the things Ivory said was falsehood. It wasn’t like Toriel believed the girl was full of lies, in fact she got the impression that Ivory hated lying and had told the truth about her origins. Well, mostly told the truth.

When monsters were babies most cannot speak till the magic in their bodies finished growing, during which the infant’s soul acted in many ways like a beacon to the parents and other adults. Baby hungry? Baby’s magic spiked. Scared? Spike. Wanted attention? Spike, and so forth.

~~She remembered the trial and error she had underwent with Asriel, trying to figure out some of his feelings and intents, because during those learning periods feeling and intention are everything but cyphering the need wasn’t always easy, like how once before he could even crawl he had been feeling sad and it she couldn’t figure out how to make him happy but could feel he wanted something. Asgore ended up figuring out that Asriel wanted a stuff toy he always slept with because it made him happy...~~

 As they got into toddler stage and older, they still rely on the magic to communicate but this also meant that while they tried to speak what they wanted, their magic was already voicing it, or saying something else entirely. Emotions and intentions were part of magic, and while the parent may only be getting an emotional feel and can’t hear the thoughts of their child, emotions could tell you a lot about what was going on in their mind.

It also meant that until they learned to control their magic, the feelings they felt constantly fluctuate revealing when someone was happy, sad, angry, afraid, confused-

\- or felt guilty over, say, lying.

Like an infant or toddler, Ivory had no control over her own soul, broadcasting her feelings everywhere, and was completely unaware she was practically yelling "I feel bad because I am lying". Toriel had two theories on why she was like that; either her anomalous soul had somehow reset her to the control of an infant… or she was never taught how to control it. The latter seemed unlikely, as any loving parent would teach their child how to control their own soul (after all you didn’t want a child to broadcast their every feeling and intention to total strangers), and when Ivory did speak about her family it was always in a loving yet sad manner.

That being said, Ivory was also an adult, and unlike an infant or young child, had far more complicated feelings. There were times where Toriel felt a little dizzy at how fast Ivory’s emotions went or felt like fusions of other emotions, very much glad other adults knew how to keep their feelings from being broadcasted everywhere.

Toriel intended to tell her about it, once she was certain that Ivory wasn’t trouble. It didn’t seem that way, with how the girl seemed bent on being as untroublesome as possible for Toriel but she wanted to make sure nonetheless.

For now, Toriel would silently enjoy watching Ivory interact with the Loox children.

Toriel looked back at the still bickering couple, sighing as she tried once more to help.

“Whoa, hey!” Ivory’s sounded off, her voice pitched in a worried tone as Toriel and all the surrounding monster adults felt the skeleton magic spike with a distinct fear.

Looking to the skeleton monster, Toriel saw that Ivory was looking up, fear on her face. All the adults were looking up now, some crying out.

It was one of the Loox children. They must hace climbed the wall and had managed to get on the ceiling.

Ivory let out a startled cry as the child panicked because the adults were panicking and was clearly trying to scramble back but lost part of their grip and was now dangling from the ceiling.

Toriel and many of the adults started running, with the former queen praying the child held on until they got there, as the parents cried out for their child to hold on, and Ivory-

One moment Ivory was near a group of little ones and the next she was under the child, horizontal in the air, catching them just as they lost their grip. For a moment Ivory hovered in the air, before suddenly plummeting towards the ground. A thrumming noise filled the air, fast paced and followed by a sensation of disturbing eeriness, and in that instant Toriel knew Ivory was using magic.

The two of them collapsed into a pile, the skeleton securely holding onto the sobbing monster. Ivory groaned and winced as a hiss of pain escaped her teeth, her wings were clacking as she sat up, the tiny Loox crying as they clung to the front of Ivory’s robe and appeared to be surrounded by a coppery barrier. Gently the surface monster rubbed circles into their back, humming a soothing tune as she tried to calm the poor thing down.

As Toriel got closer she saw that the left wing was broken, dust trickling out of the wound. Her maternal instincts took over, and Toriel proceeded to check both monsters for further injury. Several Loox’s who were experienced healers aided her, and before long Ivory’s wings was whole again. Miraculously the Loox child was perfectly healthy, though not surprising as Ivory had been shielding them at her own expense. Once assured that the child was safe and unharmed, Ivory’s magic dissipated, causing those who were close by to breath a little easier.

Upon seeing the child’s parents, Ivory softly handed them over, the two adults thanking Ivory profusely for her timely rescue. Ivory smiled at them, though Toriel could feel her happiness, relief, discomfort and confusion wavering off her.

They continued to thank her, possibly too overwhelm with their own emotions to feel that Ivory was slowly but steadily getting more uncomfortable with their thanks. Toriel intervened, stating that they had enough excitement today before bidding the Loox’s goodbye. Soon Toriel and Ivory were on their way.

As they got further away, Ivory’s other emotions were steadily engulfed by confusion and anxiety. Ivory looked up at Toriel, looking a little disoriented.  “How did I…? Did I move?”

Toriel stopped, gently tugging Ivory to stand next to her. “You saved that child from falling.”

“I know that, but how did I get there? I blinked and was underneath them!”

The goat monster stilled. Ivory hadn’t meant to do that?

Ivory looked agitated, rubbing the back of her head, a nervous gesture Toriel had picked up on early since living with the skeletal monster.

“I wanted to get to the kid, wanted to get there _now_ and then…darkness? No, it was more like blackness. A smothering kind of blackness, like I had stepped from a air conditioned room to a muggy outside and was spinning through the blackness-” Ivory abruptly stopped speaking, eye-lights shrinking to pin pricks.

“Ivory?” Toriel said, gently touching the shocked monster.

Ivory inhaled sharply, walking away at a faster stride. “It’s nothing. Not anything important.”

Toriel followed, frowning at the girl’s magic spiked, a feeling of shock, realization and guilt shot off the skeleton as well as a number of other feelings that flittered across too fast for Toriel to name.

 

* * *

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took forever...But its done now!
> 
> Soooo yeah, Ivory is her very own lie detector! Mercifully, this doesn't mean people know what exactly she is lying about.
> 
> So this was my take on magic, but magic that is usually exhibit by children. Adults can cause spikes of emotions and intentions but know how to control it, making it easier to show, highlight or hide what they are intending (e.i. wanting to show sympathy for someone how has gone through something rough, to ensure their child can feel how proud or disappointed they are, to broadcast or hide your feelings when it involves your crush, I intend to fight you, etc.). Intent is important, practically everything to monsters, so to have a clearly adult Ivory not even trying to to rein in her feelings and whose intentions are so cloudy (at best) really weird some folks out. 
> 
> If you have questions, feel free to ask! Leave a review or kudos if you like it.


	8. Introductions that start on the wrong foot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333.  
> Inspired by Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise.  
> I want to do a shout out for Kamari333 and Tyrant_Tortoise, both of who have written incredible works that inspired me. If you have not read their work, go now. You are missing out!

Panting filled the air, a lone figure in the room sprawled out on a comfy bed. Despite the fact you didn’t have the glands for it, copper colored sweat dripped down the side of your head.

_Again._ A voice that sounded a lot like Tammy when she was feeling more aggressive than usual barked through your mind.

With a groan you pulled yourself up and off the bed, though you braced yourself against it. Raising a shaking arm, you held it palm up, breathing deeply as you tried to summon your magic up. Ever since the (as you mentally called it) Loox Incident, you had spent all your alone time trying to be able to use it again.

You were not having any luck what so ever.

Firstly, you were a previously unmagical human being thus meaning you had never needed to train for this. Secondly, you and Toriel both deduced that the magic you _had_ used had been entirely instinctual.

In all honesty you were about ready to just ask Toriel to train you, but you were hesitant due to the fact Toriel (and pretty much every monster in the Underground) looked ready to flee whenever your magic got out. You didn’t want to make her horribly uncomfortable by exposing her to that mess you called a soul.

The closest you had gotten to feeling anything was a buzz in your bones that felt similar to the feeling you get after you had lost circulation to a limb and was now feeling the pins and needles. Not painful but definitely uncomfortable, and for whatever reason it sapped you of your energy.

There was also another reason you were here, in your bedroom while Toriel had gone downstairs to “check on a door” (part of you was glad she was still chatting with Sans, another part of you wondered why she didn’t want to tell you about it, it wasn’t like she knew you were human).

You had done a short cut, or something damn close to one. You were also pretty certain the blackness was the Void, and under normal circumstances a place you should avoid.

But you had to go back. You _had_ to. You _had_ to control your magic, so you could take _another_ short cut, to get _there_ , because in that few _seconds in the dark you saw **home**._

You saw what could only be the livingroom and kitchen, blurry as it was, and you knew that gaudy yellow table and periwinkle walls with Mia’s painting of that famous picture about dogs playing poker in a glittery pink frame anywhere.

You had seen it, close enough to touch it before you got jerked back, and you had momentarily forgotten it upon catching the kid and crashing down.

Now you had to figure out how to summon the magic, control it, send yourself back into the blackness/Void and reach for it, and maybe, maybe…

This mermaid could go back home.

You re-focused on your hands, trying to summon the magic.

 

* * *

 

Another hour passed, and you were no closer to your goal than before.

You had decided you’ve tried enough for that day, the pins and needles sensation throbbing throughout your body.

You had gone to the kitchen, intending to eat snail pie (how did something as disgusting as snails ended up being so delicious?), and drink tea.

You heard the heavy feet of your housemate before seeing her, smiling a little as you prepared a second cup.

Toriel soon entered the kitchen, looking both content and thoughtful. You nodded to her as you took her favorite tea down preparing it.

“You were gone awhile. Did the door not want to close?” you joked, Toriel smiling fondly at you.

Nodding, Toriel took the freshly brewed tea, a warm smile on her face. “I don’t just check the door when I go down there. I have this friend, he resides on the other side of the door. I’ve never actually met him in person, but we’ve been trading jokes for years now.  I needed advice and I trust his judgement.”

_Of_ course _, you trust his judgement. He’s the Judge of the Underground, scariest and deadliest bastard outside of weeds and murderous children._ You thought as you quickly sipped the tea, feeling the pins and needles go away with each sip.

You momentarily wondered what Sans and Toriel talked about, before deciding it wasn’t important. Toriel still spent time with Sans and that made you happy.

Draining the cup, you quickly washed it, doing the same to Toriel’s once she finished hers. The only plans either of you had now was to check on the various traps and the rooms, something you felt you were getting proficient at, at least with the traps and puzzles.

You smiled at Toriel, keeping pace as the two of you discussed dinner plans as you walked out.

 

* * *

 

You were almost back home when an enormous frog stopped Toriel. The massive frog ribbet’ed, requesting Toriel to advise them on a dispute.

Nodding, you stood not far away, allowing for privacy without having Toriel out of eye sight.

You looked around, noting you weren’t too far from the house. You’d have to encourage Toriel to visit Sans more so you could practice more magic. You were certain you were on the edge of a breakthrough, you just had to figure out what you were missing. Like how the mermaid had to learn to walk, you would learn how to control your magic!

You frowned a little, mulling over that thought.

The Little Mermaid.

The fictional tale has kept resurfacing in your mind since you had first awoken into this strange reality. It had always been a favorite of yours, but lately you’ve been really thinking it over. Disney had been your first introduction to that fairytale, and as a child you saw nothing wrong with Ariel trading her voice for feet so she could be with her true love. It was a happy ending and you had always loved it. When you got a little older though you read the original work, and found it fascinating even though you thought the poor mermaid’s fate a horrible one. You remembered as you progressed from child to teenager how you would get lost in daydreams about being carried off to another world by a handsome prince/vampire/elf/etc., thinking you’d happily toss aside your humanity if it meant you could go off on that romanticized adventure.

If current you could talk to younger you, first you’d scare them straight and probably give her a good whack across the head before telling her to never play Undertale, and that if she still got dragged off to another world that she had better have told her family and friends how much she loved them because there would be no going back.

But there was no helping it, unlike that mermaid you were stuck here, a human in monster form-

**_“Yesh! Take what makes me ‘uman! Almost as good as a soul. Hafta start as somtin’ other than human, yeah? Like the ‘ittle mermaid! See if I can save ‘em without being a ‘uman!”_ **

You jolted, the memory leaving as abruptly as it came. Wait, was that-!

“Ivory?”

You turned to where Toriel was, still conversing with the huge frog, a smile on your skull even as you screamed internally at the now lost thought. Your smiled dimmed a little at the concerned looks you were getting from both Toriel and the frog. Toriel motioned you to come forward and went obediently though still feeling a little annoyed.

You politely greeted the large frog, then turned to Toriel. The concern look on her face was still there, which was starting to worry you. You’ve seen it quite a lot in since the Loox’s reunion, and at first thought she was just worried about you and how you were adapting to your sudden new life, but now you were wondering if you were that bad at hiding your emotions, because nearly every monster you’ve encountered seemed to see past your words and purposefully neutral ~~face~~ skull.

“I need to help with a dispute and will be here for a while.” Toriel began, looking down at you with a hopeful expression. “The only place I need to check is the room that oversees Home. You know that side room near our home?”

You knew there was a room to the side, the one with the balcony. You hadn’t gone in there yet, Toriel having stated she only went in there once a month due to it feeling small, though the sad look she held when saying this made you think that she only went in once a month was more do to sad memories than anything to do with its size.

Toriel continued at your nod. “It isn’t very far from here. Can you please go in my place?”

“W-what?” you hadn’t meant to squeak, looking at her in alarm.

“I know you don’t like being alone, but I cannot leave here until this matter is settle. It will not take you very long to check it out and you can return right when you are finished or go home if you like.”

“But-” you started but was cut off when Toriel placed a clawed hand on your shoulder, looking imploringly at you. “Please, Ivory.”

_Hon, nothing has happened. It isn’t very likely anything will happen. Besides, Tori is probably sick_ _of you hanging around her like a shadow_. Nana’s voice rang through you, making you wince. You valued your privacy a lot and hadn’t exactly been giving Toriel any for herself. Sure, you didn’t follow her to the downstairs, but that could hardly be considered alone time since she was visiting Sans. She probably wanted to enjoy a moment without you hovering near her.

Hesitantly and with much reluctance, you nodded even as a lump of lead settled inside.

Toriel smiled brilliantly, looking both happy and pleased.

 You gave a half-hearted wave before walking away while tugging nervously at your gloves, feeling suddenly vulnerable.

You kept an eyesocket out, walking speedily towards your destination. You probably looked suspicious and weird, but you were not accosted by the yellow menace, so you took it as a victory.

The doorway came into view and you hurried along, intending to make this quick.

As you entered, all thought of getting through this quickly left you as you took in the view before you.

It was breathtaking. You had seen it from the entrance into the city but hadn’t seen it from here and it showed just how massive Home - and by extension the Ruins - truly were. There weren’t many lights, which made you sad because it meant that this brilliant city was practically a ghost town, where there should have been a bustling market was an empty plaza, most windows were dark, casting a foreboding feel to the otherwise scenic view.

_Maybe I should try and explore more… by myself._ The thought drifted through your mind, as you peacefully watched the dark city. Perhaps… exploring wouldn’t be bad. You were trapped here, no changing that, and clinging to Toriel’s side like a spooked toddler wasn’t how you wanted to spend the rest of your life.

_I won’t let a weed with a god complex keep me from living my life._ You decided with a nod. Turning to leave, you saw something near you.

It was the toy knife.

A sense of portentous purpose curled around you, drawing you towards the object.

Picking up the toy, you examined it. It was old, color faded, the handle made from wood and the plastic blade had at one point been sharpened to a piercing edge.

There was dust on it.

A snarling grimace found its way on your face, and while you didn’t know if the dust was from time or from somebody, a fierce rage took you at the thought that someone had used this to kill another person. Your grip on the toy tightened, the wood started to splinter.

_There will be no genocide routes, not while I am trapped here!_

Coppery lights surrounded the toy, and before you realized it a resounding crack filled the air and the toy broke into multiple pieces.

The rage sizzled out immediately, replaced by startled confusion. Staring at your gloved hand, to the fragmented toy littered around you, then back to your hand you though, _What just happened? How did I do that? Quick, recall every detail-_

Before you could further question how you did that, a voice rang out causing all thoughts to flee as terror bolted through you.

“Howdy!”

Every fiber of your being tensed, feeling as though your soul had dropped so fast you were surprise you didn’t hear it hit the floor. Slowly and deliberately you turned, hoping what you heard was actually just you being paranoid. But alas, you were not that fortunate.

There, near your feet was the insane psycho flower himself, smiling sweetly at you in a picture-perfect look of innocence.

You reacted before you could even think to stop yourself.

“Gosh, I don’t think I’ve met you before- ** _ACK!_** ”

 

* * *

 

“ ** _TORIIII!_** ”

Toriel nearly jumped at the scream, turning in time to see Ivory rushing at her, her copper colored magic shimmering around her like a malignant but very hastily constructed barrier, and like with the Loox's reunion it didn't appear to be something she was consciously trying to do.

She didn’t stop when she got to Toriel, instead nearly tackling the goat monster, causing Toriel to lose some breath as it was knocked out by the surprising force behind the younger monster. The girl was clinging to her torso, shaking so badly she could hear her bones clattering.

“My child, what-”

“I’mgonnadie, I’mgonnadie, I’mgonnadie.” Ivory said, repeating her rushed speech, as she somehow clung harder to Toriel.

 “Ivory, calm down! I have you, you are safe. What are you talking about?”

“I-I-” Ivory started, before gulping down several breathes. Once she did this she whispered, “I kicked Flowey in the face, right over the balcony…”

 

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Admit it. You wish you could have greeted Flowey this way in the game. =)
> 
> Please review. Kudos are nice, but reviews inspire me to keep writing.


	9. Talks Between a Door

 

* * *

 

“knock knock.”

“Who’s there?”

“etch.”

“Etch who?”

“bless you, friend.”

A chuckle escaped Toriel as she leaned against the door, listening to the deep baritone of her friend. After the incident with Ivory and the conversation after, she needed a bit of a break.

And it had started out so smoothly too…

“knock knock.” Her friend said his gravelly voice.

“Who’s there?”

“orange.”

“Orange who?”

“orange you gonna tell me what’s wrong? you sound kinda down.”

A token of a chuckle passed her mouth, before it settled into a tired frown. Truthfully, she didn’t want to talk about it, but she knew she needed t talk to somebody about this. With an exasperated sigh Toriel rubbed her eyes.

“Remember how I had asked for advice about my friend?”

“the one who recently lost her family?”

Toriel winced a little. She hadn’t fully explained the situation, just that she was young and recently lost her entire family in a terrible incident. Toriel trusted her friend, but she didn’t want to infringe upon Ivory’s privacy by telling anyone she came from the surface. That and she wasn’t entirely certain he’d believe her. It was something she still had a hard time believing. The fact that there were actual honest to stars monsters still roaming the surface had both delighted her and worried her.

She was thrilled to know her people hadn’t gotten completely trapped in here, but the more she asked Ivory, the more she was getting a bleak picture on her people still on the surface. Ivory honestly didn’t know much about her own people, and Toriel knew the girl told the truth about her being the first monster she met outside of her own family, the skeleton monster admitting that she knew more about humans than her own kind. And from what she could gather, there were entire communities hidden away so well even other monsters couldn’t find them without prior knowledge. From what she could gather from Ivory, the Underground had become a place of myth and legend to both the humans _and_ monsters.

Had things changed so much on the surface that even her own people had come to view the War as a fable?

But what worried her more than the possibility of her people forgetting their culture and identity was their ability in magic, or potential lack of it.

After that disaster with the flower monster, Toriel had tried to get Ivory to do some simple magic exercises as a means of relaxation only to discover that her previous assumption that Ivory’s magic was messed up by what ever happened to her soul was not entirely wrong but had only been part of a bigger issue.

Ivory had shown neither understanding nor knowledge in even the most basic of magic exercises, getting more and more upset and attempting to evade Toriel’s questions. After nearly an hour of firmly questioning Ivory, the younger monster (with great reluctance) admitted to never learning magic.

Toriel had been flabbergasted, demanded to know why in the world Ivory had never learned anything about magic, only to feel as though she was verbally slapped by Ivory as she yelled back that it was due to magic being thought to be practically extinct on the surface. The girl had apologized for her outburst, but Toriel could only nod in acceptance as the two called it a day. Since then it has been strained between them, Ivory hiding away in her room as Toriel had gone on her rounds alone, feeling sadden at the lack of company.

A thousand years had passed between those on the surface and underground, and Toriel was now truly wondering just how different things were between the two. If the monsters on the surface had somehow lost most of their magical abilities outside of the most basic survival ones and reproduction, then Toriel felt a great sorrow for her people.

“you still there?” Her friend said, jolting Toriel out of her melancholy thoughts.

“Ah, yes. That is the one.” She replied, recalling his question. A part of her wish she could go into further detail, but she didn’t want to put Ivory on the spot. Not that she thought her friend would do something but considering Ivory’s past it was probably safer to keep things simple.

“kid still isn’t adjusting well, huh?”

“No, she is not.” The large monster replied, rubbing her nose.

“did something happen?”

The plan was to encourage Ivory to be more independent, to not feel that she needed to be by Toriel’s side all the time. Toriel’s friend had suggested to ween her off slowly, baby steps into it. Since the Loox incident, Toriel had been slowly but surely giving Ivory more space, visiting her friend behind the door every day, a little longer each time.

The day she sent Ivory to the balcony was to be the first step of many careful planning to further encourage the displaced monster to feel that her new home was a safe environment and would eventually feel safe enough to go exploring by herself.

Careful planning that completely backfired because Ivory was for some reason deathly afraid of yellow flowers… or flower monsters. Ivory was a little fuzzy on the exact reason but Toriel could feel the sheer terror that practically blanket the girl when she spoke of the flower monster, so whatever had happened between Ivory an this “Flowey” had been bad enough to scare the light right out of Ivory’s sockets. It felt like the Whimsun incident all over again. 

The thing that bothered her was that Ivory did admit that this Flowey had not actually done anything to her and that she reacted without thinking. Toriel had scolded her for that.

With a great sigh Toriel retold what had happened as she knew it; she sent Ivory to check on the balcony room, ran into a monster named Flowey who apparently frightened her so badly she kicked him in the face with enough force to send him flying over the balcony.

As she finished she noticed her friend was quiet. She opened her mouth to ask if he was still there when he spoke.

“she… kicked him over the balcony?” He inquired, voice oddly high pitched.

“Yes. According to my young friend she ‘kicked him right in the kisser’.”

After saying this, her friend started having a coughing fit.

“that’s- _cough_ -horrible.” He said with his voice still pitch high as he was once more overcome with another bout of deep coughing, though Toriel wondered at the sound. It almost sounded like he was… laughing?

“ _coughcough_ …kid, uh, really got on the wrong _foot_ there, didn’t she? Poor thing probably can’t _face_ ya, huh?”

Toriel snorted at the bad puns. “Not like she has a lot of face to show.”

“oh?”

“Never mind. What does matter is that I have a monster who refuses to leave her room for long periods of time, and I still can’t find the monster she kicked. I’m sure if they can only talk it out they can come to an understanding.”

A painful sounding snort came from the other side.

“i really doubt that.” He muttered, probably not meaning for her to hear with the way he mumbled it, but she heard nonetheless.

“You think that would be unwise?”

For a moment there was silence and Toriel felt as though her friend was weighing something. After a moment he spoke, tone still light yet it felt as if he was measuring each word.

“in this case? i can’t blame her for kicking him. probably a smart thing to do. flowey has a… let’s just say he’s been known for threatening and attacking weaker people. not enough to get the royal guards’ attention, and he has an annoying habit of never getting caught doin’ it either. chances are your friend was defending herself.”

That caused Toriel to start, worry spreading through her. It had never occurred to her that Ivory’s fear of Flowey had been justified. Ivory had even made it sound like she had kicked him due to some bizarre fear of flowers! Had he been threatening her? If so why hadn’t she said anything?

“Are you sure of this Flowey’s character?” The former queen demanded.

“yeah. let’s just say i’ve had one too many run-ins with that weed. if he has already gone after her once, he’ll probably do it again. this time though he has a motive, what with her kicking him.”

Toriel mumbled a few curses, too low to allow her friend to hear. Suddenly Ivory’s fear made more sense.

_How do I show her the Underground is safe if things like this happen?! Just as she is finally showing signs of independence, she gets attacked by other monsters!_

Toriel needed more help, or advice.

_She could have told me. Why didn’t she say anything?_

_How do I help her?_

Turning to the door, Toriel came to a decision.

“My friend, is Gerson still alive?”

Her friend gave a surprised hum before answering her inquiry. “old gerson? yeah, he still lives. runs a shop over in waterfall.”

“Can you ask him to come to the Ruins? Tell him… tell him that the lady he left his post to needs his help.”

Before becoming the first guardian of the Ruins when they built New Home, before he was known as the Hammer of Justice, before even the War, Gerson had been a master healer. And not just any kind of healer, he specialized in soul healing, a profession that was all but extinct. If anyone could help her figure out Ivory’s soul it was him.

“…okay… is this monster child you have the reason you need him?” Toriel frowned a little at the way he said ‘monster child’, like he was air quoting. She shook that thought off, it must have been her imagination.

“i _shell_ -y can’t think of why you need him. care to share?”

Toriel thought for a moment. Her friend has been helpful, and this was the first time he had asked any questions, questions that he did have right to since she was requesting quite a bit of him. She felt she could trust him with some truths.

“She is young, and I have just found out her…her soul was damaged when she lost her family.” Toriel replied, keeping it broad. “The first couple of weeks I feared she’d fall down. But when she pulled through, her soul never truly recovered.”

“kid has cracks in their soul?”

Pulling at her ear Toriel looked away.

“More like her soul is deformed. It has made her…control over her magic practically non-existent. And she was practically untaught before this all happened.”

“yikes… ok. gotcha. a untrained kid with a warped soul.”

“So you’ll get him?”

“yeah, i’ll get him. might take awhile.”

She figured. To and from Waterfall was a bit of a walk, but as long as Gerson comes she would be fine with waiting.

“Thank you, friend.”

 

* * *

 

Unbeknownst to Toriel, Sans smile twisted into a stressed filled rictus that could only be still considered a smile if the person looking was incredibly near-sighted or blind.  

Three months. This timeline has been going for three months. The longest it took Frisk was two weeks and that was because they deliberately took their time!

And if that wasn’t the weirdest thing he had to deal with, it was _where_ in the timeline they were!

Somehow Frisk or Chara had managed to go back an entire year into the past, meaning Frisk wasn’t due for another nine months at least. It had been one of the eeriest things he had gone through, because he could hardly recall what had happened before the resets began.

Had there been a human child this soon before Frisk? The resets have been happening so long he couldn’t recall correctly. He vaguely remembered the one before Frisk, but not entirely.

The one thing he did remember about them was they took their sweet time leaving the Ruins, so perhaps this was the sixth human? He needed to recheck the records.

Toriel’s human was a new and strange angle of this timeline ( he did not buy Toriel’s whole ‘I have a monster friend’ story, mostly because he could tell Toriel was hiding something about them, and them having a deformed soul was undoubtedly her covering for their human soul) and he was interested in seeing them stay on that side of the door, if only to slow down Frisk when they inevitably returned… though he worried they just might join them instead.

No matter what though, Sans couldn’t bring himself to hope this was a new and better start, that the resets had finally stopped.

Was he to live out the next nine months reset free only to have it resume once Frisk returned?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo... I am alive, good news. A lot of crap happened, so I apologize for the long wait. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this new chapter!


	10. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333.  
> Inspired by Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise.  
> If you have not read Kamari333 and Tyrant_Tortoise work, put this piece of trash down and go read their phenomenal stories!

* * *

 

 

_You squirmed in your chair, feeling like a little kid who had screwed up big time. Tori just stared at you from her own seat, with an expression you’ve often saw on your own mother’s face growing up. The one where you had done something stupid and she couldn’t believe a child of hers was dumb enough to do it in the first place._

_“Let me see if I got this straight. You went to the balcony, ran into a flower monster, and then you 'kicked him right in the kisser’, unprovoked? My friend, why?”_

_“I couldn’t help it. He-he startled me. The yellow flower kinda terrifies me…” you babbled, shrinking under her gaze of incredulity._

_This was turning out to be a pretty shitty day for you. You had run into Flowey, kicked him over a balcony and now you were getting grilled by Tori when you had admitted to kicking him without provocation._

_“What were you doing when he ‘startled’ you?”_

_“I wasn't doing anyth-”_

_“Ivory, stop lying. I can tell when you lie. Your magic fluctuates when you do.”_

_Despite not having innards, you felt your gut freeze then plummet to the floor. Why in the nine circles of hell hadn’t Toriel told you that in the beginning?!_

_You felt a wave of panic building upon your already fried nerves._

**Panic later!** **Ninety percent truths!**

_With that new knowledge you edited your story, guilt chewing at you. “I had tried to use magic. It sorta worked, but he popped up and I lost my concentration.”_

_You have been squirming nonstop since you’ve been back home. You couldn’t tell Tori that Flowey was a murderous psychopath since he hadn’t even done anything to you_ **~~yet~~ ** _._

_With that Tori proceeded to go into a lengthy tirade about how you should be sorry, if he hadn’t done anything you shouldn’t have attacked him, how disappointed she was in you, and why are you afraid of harmless flowers?_

_The goat monster proceeded to probe you with question after question, growing more upset looking at each evaded question she asked or outright refusal to answer. You weren’t being difficult on purpose, really, but the fear you felt from the Flowey encounter and the horror you were feeling at being told that you were your own lie detector had merged together into an dread-pocked anxiety that sat in you like a spiky boulder, the need to hide in your room until the meltdown ran its course was getting to a boiling point_ **and you need to get out of here, Copper Soul.**

_Then it got worse._

_Toriel seemed to realize you looked uncomfortable ~~not aware of the well contained panic attack you were experiencing~~ and calmed down a little, suggesting you both practice some basic magic exercises, because you needed to rebuild you control and she found them relaxing._

_You nodded, getting up to ‘practice’ in your room. At least you were, until she said to sit down and practice here with her because she didn’t want to end this conversation on a bad note_ **~~too freaking late for that~~ ** **.**

_You forced yourself to sit, hoping you could just copy her and be done with it_ **~~That is a stupid plan~~ ** _. if you hadn’t been panicking, you would have been able to come up with an excuse to leave. But you were panicking and not thinking clearly at all._

_It became very obvious you had no idea what you were doing after ten minutes, and Toriel stopped to look at you in amused befuddlement._

_“Ivory, why don’t you know these? Does the surface have different methods of learning the basics in magic?”_

**NO** , because I’m not from this god forsaken world! Just tell her- **No, you can’t**. Dug too deeply, told too big a lie. Just tell her ~~TellherTellherTellerTellher **DON’T YOU TELL**~~ **H ~~ER!~~ Just say you never needed to learn because your magic was so low it was practically nonexistence or something!** Rip this bandage off and hope it doesn’t reveal the real reason you can’t do it.

_“I…I don’t know basic magic.”_

_“Well, clearly you need to remaster the basic-”_

_“No, I mean I…I never learned anything about magic. At all. No basic or anything.”_

**~~You really are an idiot.~~ **

_For a moment Toriel look perplexed, as though she wasn’t understanding._

_“But you’re an adult. You have to had learned it.”_

_The panic grew stronger, the festering need to scream and cry growing but you held it in, you had to!_ **~~You are like a pressure cooker right now.~~ **

_“It is fine, Tori. I lived this long without learning. Now please, I need to go to sleep.”_

_But Toriel wasn’t done. If anything, she looks both horrified and furious._

_“Why haven’t you ever learned magic?! Why hadn’t your parents taught you?!”_

_“BECAUSE MAGIC DOESN’T EXIST UP THERE!” you shouted as you shot out of  your seat, everything boiling over. You refused to look at her, eye sockets glued firmly to your gloves as the words tumbled out without censure._

_“The only magic people see any more are tricks, smokes and mirrors! If I hadn’t gotten thrown down here I wouldn’t have ever known that it existed! Before you found me, the closest thing I’ve done to magic was card tricks and optical illusion puzzles! Magic is DEAD!”_

**~~Your world is like a graveyard in terms of magic.~~ **

_Silenced reigned, only your breath making any noise. After a moment of silence, you looked up._

_Toriel looked poleaxed._

_The irritation and anger that buzzed around you evaporated, leaving behind a human in skeleton bones wishing she hadn’t said anything or at least put thought into her words, instead of the emotion powered verbal bile you just expelled._

_“Tori, I…” you started, but uncertain as to what to say. What could you say? The two of you just stood there, her with the most despairing expression you have ever seen and you feeling your sins crawling on your back._

_You slowly backed away_ **~~coward~~ ** _, mumbling, “I…I’m going to bed. I’m sorry. I'm sorry.”_

_Tori had barely finished nodding and you were already fleeing to your bedroom, quietly closing the door. You slide to the ground, balling up the hem of your robe before stuffing it in your mouth and started screaming into it, the muffled noise vibrating in your skull._

I screwed up.

**~~How long can you keep this up?~~ ** **=)**

 

* * *

 

 Jerking up, you inhaled a terror filled gasp. A dream, a dream about the events that had happened after the Flowey incident. You still felt guilty for how you handled it. Tori didn’t deserve your harsh words. After that, you handled it like how you always handled things that made you uncomfortable; you avoided it like the plague and tried to sleep through it, which was hard since you kept dreaming about it… though parts felt fuzzy. You chalked it up to the fact you had been panicking at the time.

You needed to apologize. You just didn’t know how. Words just weren't enough.

You curled into a ball, trying to get some kind of rest before you had to face Tori. It wasn’t easy, the ground was rocky and cold- wait. Rocky? The floor was suppose to be wood!

Straightening up you looked around, sockets widening as you realized your location.

How did you get to Home’s marketplace?!

Getting to your feet you looked around, trying to figure out how you got here. The place looked…newer? No, fuller? The market was bustling with monsters of all shapes and sizes. Torches and lamps lined ever ten feet, people wearing styles that looked to be based from the eighteenth century.

Monsters strolled around, seemingly without a care in the unusually busy market place. You had never seen so many kinds of monsters.

As you looked around, you finally spotted a familiar face, relieved at seeing Toriel here.

With an awkward smile you ran to her, calling out her name. She didn’t respond, in fact she didn’t so much as nodded at you like she usually did when you two went shopping. As you got closer you noticed that Tori looked …off.

Tori looked younger. Happier. She wore a robe similar to the one she always wore, except it was far more detailed, silver threading on the hem that made intricate designs, sleeves a silky white and poofy. On her head, covering her horns was a beautiful shimmery veil held on by a silver and amethyst colored jewel that was shaped like the delta rune.

She looked past you, a playful smile on her face.

“What about this one, Gorey?”

“Asgore is here?!” you yelped, whipping around.

Only to screech at coming face-to-navel level with said monster. Stumbling away, you stare up at the King of Monsters. Tori already towered over you, but Asgore? He made you feel like a toddler.

The behemoth known as Asgore smiled brightly, walking towards Tori with an arm full of fabrics. “I think the kids will love it, Tori.”

Kids? What…

You looked back around, noticing certain oddities. The well that sat in the center of Home’s market was working, and the pully and bucket were there, where as it shouldn’t have been due to having rotted away according to the Froggit merchant you bought your boots from. The place the Froggit store sign was clearly the same sign, but instead of the faded and chipped paint this one looked brand new.

As you looked around, more and more irregularities became apparent, with the most glaring being that Home actually looked as though it was still being used as a residence instead of the near ghost city it really was.

“Is this… the past? Am I still dreaming?” you wondered aloud, uncertain.

“Mom! Dad!” a pair of children cried out, mirth clear in their words.

A pair of children ran past you, both wearing green and yellow striped shirts. You were pretty glad you didn’t have eyeballs anymore, because you were pretty certain they would have fallen out at the sight of Asriel and Chara.

Both looked about ten, with Asriel colliding into Asgore’s leg and Chara latching onto the huge monster’s other leg.

Asgore pretended to be weighted down by them, making over dramatic exclamations and giving Tori big ole puppy dog eyes as he ‘pleaded’ for her to rescue him, Tori hiding her smile behind her sleeve.

Suddenly the world froze, the colors bleeding away until it was all blacks and grays.

 **It used to be a pretty nice place, huh?** A young voice said, causing you to turn to the source.

An older looking Chara stood not far from you, the only color in this monochrome world. They looked fondly at the frozen royal family before turning to you, their smile turning somewhat brittle as they walked closer to where you stood frozen.

**We need to talk.**

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh noes, Chara wants a talk! How terrifying! O=0
> 
> Urgh... it took me six re-writes to finish this chapter, and I am still not satisfied with it...
> 
> Alrighty, folks! Who do you want her to meet first?
> 
> Kindly leave a review if you liked this!


	11. Souls, Spirits and Deals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story was inspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333, and Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise. If you haven't already, go read those incredible works.

* * *

 

 

**Alright, I get it, maybe I shouldn’t have started this conversation with ‘We need to talk’. In hindsight that was a bad move on my part, now can you please get down?**

You did not in fact want to get down, even though you had no idea how you got up here in the first place, ‘here’ being roughly thirty feet vertical from where Chara was. The moment you registered who Chara was you pretty much shot straight upwards and had refused to go back down.

A part of you was worried over where you were, as the Home market place had dissolved into blackish murk, with only you and Chara as any form of color in this place, but that side of your mind was staying relatively quiet as you were more concerned over the young adolescent looking at you with a rather unamused look.

 _Am I in shock? I think I’m in shock,_ your mind unhelpfully supplied as you stared at a preteen looking Chara.

For what felt like an eternity, the two of you stared at each other with you getting further away little by little. Why haven't done anything? Chara was dangerous yet hadn't forced you down yet. Finally Chara moved, eyes rolling as the waved their hand around.

**Relax. I only eat the souls of the damned and the ones made out of chocolate.**

_Great way to convince me to come down there._ You mentally snarked, getting higher.

**Will it help if I promise that you will wake up and still have complete control over yourself when you do? I really want this talk, and it’s easier if we can do it in one go than me pulling you back over and over because you keep avoiding me.**

Taking a better look at Chara you realized several things about them; one, they were older then you thought they be, a preteen. Second, they seemed to have reddish iris’s and blurry looking pupils ~~somewhere in the back of your mind you remembered a class you took that discussed ocular albinism, and how most people with ocular albinism have blue eyes, but the blood vessels inside can show through the iris, making the eyes look pink or red~~. Third, and most worrying, was their smile. It wasn’t a bad smile, nor was it the slasher smile many artists gave them. In fact, it was a nice smile with dimples, which combined with their open stance a rosy cheeks made them look like the picture of child innocence. It was this smile combined with those wide red eyes that made you want to squirm.

Not stopping, you went higher. “That depends.”

**On?**

“Are your promises any good? Can I trust them? How do I know you’ll keep them?”

**Like a certain numbskull, I hate making promises. When I do make them, I really try to keep them. Besides, do you have a choice?**

“Yes, I do. I can keep avoiding you, maybe even annoy you into leaving me alone.”

The look Chara gave you did nothing to hide their opinion of that idea. **That…is a stupid plan.**

You shrugged, sockets still trained on the child as you got further away. “Didn’t say it was a good choice, or even a smart one. But it’s a choice I can make.”

 **I turned you into a monster and brought you here.** Chara said, the smile transforming into a huge creepy smile that spread across their face. **What makes you think you are in control here?**

“If you did have control over me, then why haven’t you? Why not just make me come down there?”

Chara’s face twitched, but it was all the prove you needed. You had been mostly talking to buy time but instead you stumbled onto a answer. You hadn’t thought it possible, but apparently the brat couldn’t make you do anything you didn’t want to (and boy did they look like they wanted to drag you down there by the roots of your non-existent hair). You made a point to move even further away. “You can drag me here, even change my race but for some reason, you can’t control me like you can with Frisk. Ergo, I can keep this up as long as you can.”

The child let out a huge put-upon groan. **Okay, I get it. Facts and events point to me being an abomination. But right now, I really need to talk to you, and the sooner we get this over with the sooner you can go home.**

That stopped you in your tracts.

“…define ‘home’.”

The black void around you suddenly shifted, and for a moment you forgot where you really were as your kitchen materialized around you. Not Toriel’s, _yours_.

The off-blue walls, the ugly beige counters, Tammy’s always open food cabinet, Mandy’s fruit corner that was always full of fruits for fruit smoothies, Mia’s chipped coffee cup in the sink and the stupid glitter covered picture frame of you and your brother that hung on your cabinet was all there. Even that dented fridge and eternal stain on the floor in front of the oven when you and Mia tried to make a fancy meal and ended up reducing it to burnt goo was still there, all of it looking exactly as you last saw it.

It was jarring enough that it caused you to drop near Chara.

 **You have an ugly home.** Chara stated as they sat at the small table in the corner.

You looked around, ducking into the living room and taking it all in.

“I’m home.” You whispered, about ready to call out for your housemates when Chara spoke.

**Don’t get too excited. This is all from your memories, we aren’t actually in your kitchen. Now please, will you sit down so we can talk?**

The happiness you felt welling in your chest abruptly died. Looking around you noticed tiny things that stuck out, like how the computer screen looked like a black hole that didn’t even reflect light, or how there was nothing outside the windows at all, just more blackness.

Reluctantly you trudged to the table, sitting as far from the child as you could while still technically being at the table. “Well, what do you want?”

**I wanted to renegotiate the deal between us.**

That was not what you were expecting. “…alright, I’ll bite. Why?”

**Because your very existence changed events here, and if we take advantage of it, you’ll get to go home entirely intact and my world may finally progress past this time loop.**

“What did I do to change things? I haven’t even left the Ruins!”

**Come on. Haven’t you noticed something off about the Underground? Like a certain human isn’t here, despite its been months since you arrived?**

“I figured either Frisk was due later or I replaced them somehow.”

**If only it were that simple. You went back an entire year before Frisk was supposed to arrive.**

You were perplexed, giving the kid a confused look. “And why did you drop me back that far?”

 **I didn’t.** Chara said crisply, glowering at you. **You managed to do that all by yourself, and I still don’t know exactly how.**

“What.” You squeaked, looking at the child like they had just told you that you had sprouted a second head. “I don’t have any control over my magic! How could I do that?!”

 **If I had to guess, it is because you are an Outworlder.** Chara responded, summoning a cup of what looked like hot coco.

“A…what?” you asked, feeling wrong-footed. No where in the game was there any mention of an 'outworlder'.

 **An Outworlder**. Chara spoke after sipping the drink. **A _human_ that is from outside of my world.** They defined, in a tone that made it sound like they were talking to a particularly slow-witted child.

You couldn’t help but notice the special emphasize on the word ‘human’. “Is there a difference between your world humans and mine?”

**Oh, good grief, _yes_. The humans in my world have powerful magic cores and can use it in great and terrible ways but can be reasoned with and still have their compassion even if it is a bit buried. Your world humans magically blind and deaf and numb! And your world humans are evil incarnate, hate each other for minute and stupid reasons like skin color, and suffer from god complexes and take too much thrill in genocide. **

**My world humans stop when they hit the ceiling. Yours? You hit that ceiling, then instead of stopping you destroy that ceiling, because you can, and don’t even stop to wonder if you should.**

“Wow. What a view you have on humanity.” You muttered sarcastically, watching as the coco refilled itself. “Alright, you hate humanity. I get it. but why does me being a… Outworlder human have to do with going back in time? I mean, did you pull other poor smucks into this world after removing their humanity?”

 **In a manner of speaking.** You must have given a pretty nasty look because Chara just sighed, putting their cup down.

**Look, I have met with two other humans from your world, then brought them to the Underground. And had I known the damaged they’d cause, I’d have never brought them to my world. They are the reason I usually never drag your kind in further than the void, and always returned them…mostly intact.**

That did nothing to comfort you. “Why did you pull me through? I haven’t heard of other people disappearing after playing Undertale.”

The child snorted, cup of coco transforming into a chocolate bar. **Well, no you wouldn’t have. Usually I just collect their soul and leave them in your world. Genocide routes that go till the end are the easiest way to collect them, even more so if they sell their soul to reset.**

If it was possibly the color drained from your skull. “Are you telling me everyone who selects to bring back the Undertale world after a genocide becomes soulless?!”

 **Sort of.** Chara shrugged as they took a large bite out of the chocolate bar. **I can’t take the whole thing as that just leaves behind an empty husk, so I take their soul, but leave them with their spirit.**

That…didn’t make sense. “Isn’t that the same thing?”

**Phht, no. An Otherworlder human, like you, have a two-part soul- Soul and Spirit. Soul is the culmination of a person’s being or bulk of them, while a spirit is the aspects of a human. Like the soul is the hard-outer shell while the spirit is the softer-inside. The two are so closely intertwined that humans see them as interchangeable. When I take one of your world’s souls, I leave behind the spirit. The spirit still has all the memories, the feelings and pretty much everything that makes that human them, its the mental side of the soul if you will, where is soul part is the section that allows a person to put their will into actions, like you want to run ten miles nonstop? The soul will keep you going till you finish it. But with out a soul, that human might find that they are no longer as ambitious, or have as much willpower as before. They are also susceptible to possession. There still a good amount of will there, and it rarely effects them in the long run so I can get away with it, though their ability to care about themselves is kinda compromised, sometimes along with their ability to care about others. But they can no longer can hurt anyone in the Undertale world, and Frisk is temporarily freed until the next whole soul comes by to play, so they rarely get a break from being somebody’s meat puppet.**

 

“Wouldn’t we notice that half of our soul is missing?” you inquired, then registered the end of what Chara said. “What do you mean by Frisk being a meat puppet?!”

 **You Otherworlder humans are so numb to soul pain that I’m surprised it doesn’t bleed over to your physical ability to feel pain. Those guys that take my deal rarely ever notice that half of their soul is missing! They sell me the soul, I leave the spirit and they never even notice that its gone! I’ve done it thousands of times! It is even easier to get them to sell it to me when they think I am just a character in a game.** Chara rolled their eyes as they spoke before adopting a sugary high pitch **. ‘I think I’ll play that game where genocide is an option, just to see what happens! Tee hee, I just murdered a bunch of people! Oh shoot, I erased the world, but look I get to restart it over if I sell my soul. Tee hee, its just a game so why not?’.**

You felt your soul curdle at those words. Just how many people had Chara made ‘deals’ with? Just how many souls had they taken? Its one thing when it’s just a game, but Chara was stating that every person who did a reset after completing the genocide was now soulle- No.

“Every person who did a reset after a genocide are now… soulless? All of them?” You asked, voice oddly blank to your own non-ears.

 **Yup.** Chara confirmed, popping the ‘p’.

No.

NO.

_“NO!”_

You weren’t aware you had said anything, nor that you were standing. Your vision tunneled onto Chara, who was suddenly in your face, you having picked them up and was now yelling, _“Give it back to him!”_

**What are you-**

_“Give Ivan back his soul!”_

**Ivan? Whose Ivan?!**

“My brother! He did a genocide route _and_ a reset! You took his soul and _now you are going to put it back!”_

Suddenly you went flying into the wall behind you, pinned. It didn’t stop you from struggling to get at the kid, who was forcibly keeping you there.

After several minutes of struggling, Chara spoke, voice strained. **Alrighty. I should have guessed you’d know somebody who was stupid enough to take the deal. I get it, if somebody took Azzy’s soul I’d be ticked too. But let me explain why I do this. Let me explain why you are here. And once we are done…you can decide what to do. Okay?**

You took in the coldness on their features, and how their arm shook as they pinned you, not with strain but probably from forcably keeping themselves from attacking you. It definitely looked like the kid was fighting the urge to send you through the wall. You wanted to fight, but if you were to get Ivan’s soul back you had to listen. Begrudgingly you nodded and were unceremoniously dropped to the ground. You stood up and retook your seat across from Chara, glaring at them the whole time.

 **Let me explain what happened the last time I allowed an Outworlder human to cross the void.** The said, angerly biting a chunk of chocolate off as you glowered at them from across the table.

**After my death, I ended up in here, the void, the space between worlds, what ever you want to call it. I think I got here because Azzy and I fused before his death, and it changed my soul. I discovered that the void acted as a barrier between my world and yours, and started to study your people, as well as try to figure out how to help my people. After trial and error, I discovered that I can’t directly interact with the people back home, so I tried my luck with the Outworlder humans. It took some time but after a while I finally managed to find two of your world’s humans, one with a pearl colored soul and the other a black soul. The humans on that side had no magic but an even bigger array of colored souls and those two souls were much more powerful than the average ones. So I thought if I could get them to my world, they can either destroy the barrier to escape or get killed and be used to break the barrier, a win-win situation.**

Chara let out a sigh before taking another bite. They chewed for a few minutes, looking like they were trying to find a way to better explain their story before continuing. **Frisk falling into the Underground gave me an opening to get them in as well. The Barrier is tied to this place so if a Outworlder human were to get into my world it would be there, and it is even easier if a human from my world goes through first, creating a small window. I figured three human souls was more than enough to break the barrier since they already had six. I thought, ‘Well this will be easy! The monsters will be free in no time!’**

Chara’s face contorted, a look of rage flashing across it **. I didn’t count on the two Outworlder humans getting a power boost. Or that while I could drop them in my world, I couldn’t control them. It took me a long time to figure out that while the soul can be controlled, a Outsider’s spirit prevents me from doing it.**

You felt a chill up your spine at that. “So, you can’t control me because I still have both my soul and spirit?”

**Bingo.**

“And those power boost? What kind of power boost are we talking about?”

**In my world, humans have naturally powerful souls. Each color does a form of power. Purples tend to trap people, green shield, and so forth. Red souls have the most determination and allows them to speed up or slow down time, and in rare cases even go back a couple minutes. These guys? They were on a whole another level.**

Chara summoned another bar before continuing, the look on their face far too old for someone who looked maybe twelve.

**I knew their souls were stronger in their world, but I didn’t take a moment to consider what their souls would do when suddenly dropped in a world full of magic. The pearl soul had a time based magic and could now create save points and could do resets at will, while the black soul could create ‘rules’ like you’d find in a game, like how you the player have to go through a certain set of missions in order to win the game? That one enforced the three routes; Neutral, Mercy and Genocide.**

**Now my world had two unfathomly powerful humans running loose and the only thing keeping them from slaughtering my people and conquering the world was that they disagreed on everything. The black soul was obsessed with dogs and just wanted to go home and make games, but the pearl soul…they became drunk on power. And when they decided to become a god of my world and the black soul decided to stop them? It just went down hill. The black soul and I merged to try and stop the pearl soul, and Frisk got caught in the middle of a power struggled.**

**It was Frisk who managed to put an end to it all, at a great cost. After a massive battle between Black, Pearl and I, the Pearl soul was grievously injured, most of their body a broken mess. They were about to do a reset again, undoing all of Black’s and mine efforts and we were too exhausted to stop them. Frisk offered to be their vessel, so they could take us out while we were too exhausted to fight back, and since Black got another power boost from merging with me, Pearl agreed, not knowing that the body was just as important as the soul and spirit. I was in Black's body which made our merging stronger, and allowed me to bypass the spirit. Frisk, on the other hand was from this world and while strong, Frisk's body was not Outworlder strong... but their Determination was. Pearl never saw the trap until it was too late. Pearl may have been able to reset and make save points, but Frisk’s determination was far stronger then theirs and won. Pearl was now stuck in a body that minimized their power, and Black and I finally had the upper hand.**

**I dragged them into the void and got Black’s spirit to go back home, but when I tried to send Pearl back… they tried to stay in Frisk. I had to forcibly remove Pearl and ended up tearing them into two, the soul and the spirit. I threw the soul into the void, but the spirit managed to escape back into my world, but it was harmless now, just another soul and a broken one too. I lost track of it because it would die soon in they're broken state... and I was trying to save Frisk.**

At this point Chara choked a little, looking away.

**…Frisk…their soul was in tatters. I patched it up to the best of my abilities and sent them back… but I made it worse. Frisk soul had been touched by both an Outworlder’s and then the void, merging into this conduit, making them the perfect host for any other Outworlder that may have come. And that is before you take into consideration that after merging with Pearl soul, their determination had absorbed Pearls resetting and save ability.**

**I had sent Frisk as far back as I could, the day they fell into the Underground, but something had happened in your world that gave access to my world, and now Outworlders were taking over Frisk's body all the time, and all I could do with my new powers was enforce ‘rules’ of the ‘game’ so they couldn’t do worse damage, and then if they tried to do a full genocide I was there to give them a illusion of choice…and then if they quit after that I quietly take over Frisk long enough to reset the world and give them a small reprieve, or if they wanted to try the pacifist route after a genocide route, take their souls so they can’t screw up anymore. The ones that did neutral than pacifist I left alone but kept an eye on them just to be safe. I did this countless times, more than I can keep track of and I couldn’t change any of it.**

The curdling sensation you had been feeling grew worse with Chara’s story, and by now you felt both nauseous and horrorstruck. While it certainly explained Chara’s resentment towards your race, it also made you feel sympathy for the dead kid. It seemed that Chara was trying so hard to help the monsters gain their freedom but kept screwing up, each failure more devastating then the last, with ~~Asriel and Frisk~~ someone else seeming to pay the price each time. It didn’t stop you from feeling angry that they had your brother’s soul though.

They finally looked at you, a rueful smile in place.

**Then you came along, and presented me opportunity that I never considered before; what happens when an Outworlder human soul is trapped inside a monster’s body? Your kind get weakened in a human from my world...so how much weaker could you get in a monsters? It was a little difficult transforming you from physical matter to magical matter, but after watching you scream in horror at your new body I thought it was worth it, especially since you didn’t show any changes in magic…in fact, your soul is so ill suited for your changed body, that had I gone with my first idea to simply put you in an already existing monster body I would be willing to bet you’d have either melted that body in no time or it would become a amalgamate. So, the body had to be originally yours.**

_It was curious,_ you thought as you scowled at the child. _How you can sympathize with someone and still find them appalling._

 **Don’t give me that look, that body is pretty stable. You don’t have to worry about it falling apart on you.** Chara actually sounded a bit disappointed at that.

**You didn’t want to sell your soul but were fine with loosing your humanity. Truthfully, I allowed it out of pettiness; I hate Outworlder humans more than my world humans and wanted to watch you suffer in a body that can’t support your soul adequately, and weakened you incredibly. I figured once you’ve suffered enough and failed your end of the deal, I’d give you a chance to go back home, for the modest price of your soul of course.**

The child glared at their half-eaten chocolate bar, grumbling, **I should have realized a Outworlder like you, no matter what form you’d take would somehow cause unprecedented chaos. But unlike last time, this chaos could be used for the embetterment of the Underground…and may even free us from this mess.**

**I meant for you to be there when Frisk showed up. Give them either a new friend or punching bag. Instead, you somehow managed to go back an entire year in time, something I had never been able to do. Then you managed to get in and out of the void all on your own, something even that bag of bones couldn’t do until he got a working knowledge in quantum physics. I don’t know if you can pull people in here like I can, but now I know that unlike me you can leave. But at least I now know that it is easier to just pull their spirit in and chat with them while they are sleeping, like how we are talking now.**

You weren’t sure what to say, so you fiddled with your hem. Chara banished the last of the chocolate bar, giving you their entire attention.

 **And here we are now. You know I can’t control you now, but you can’t go home without my help. I don’t like your kind, but I am willing to put my distain away and work with you to get the results I want. We are in a situation I have never been in before, and I really, really, _really_ want things to go right this time. So, ** they reached out, palm open and look of desperate hope etched into their face. **Can we please renegotiate the deal?**

You leaned away, not bothering to hide the distrust you felt. “What exactly do you want out of this?”

**To boil it down? I want to make an alternate timeline. If we change when the Barrier goes down, we change the timeline, making it branch out from this one.**

“You want to make an AU?”

**Yeah, exactly. I saw the weird offshoots the Outworlder humans made of my world -seriously, some of those worlds your people created are creepy- and thought, ‘If we can make a divergent point before Frisk arrives, maybe we can break the loop’.**

 “Why before Frisk arrives?”

**Because then Frisk will have never been possessed in the first place…and maybe their soul will be whole again.**

You took a moment to stare at kid, trying to find any deceit in their expression. You wanted to believe they would be fair and squire, but their dislike- no, abhorrence of you and your kind made it hard to put trust in them. Especially since they admitted that the events of Undertale happened because they were messing with forces beyond their understanding. But if you wanted Ivan’s soul back, and a way back home you were going to have to put your feelings towards them aside. You leaned back in, fixing the kid with a stern no-nonsense look.

“I want my brother’s soul returned. That is nonnegotiable.”

**Fine, figured as much.**

“And you have to promise that you will get me home once I finish my part of the deal. As a human.”

**Anything else?**

 “…You do not get to possess me or enter my body. Not even if I am about to die. I don't care if it would make my job easier, you are never getting control of me, even temporarily.”

**…Fine. So, the terms are that you will help me break the Barrier and freeing everyone in the process -as a monster- before Frisk returns. And in return for your services, your brother’s soul will be returned, and you will get to go home, human once more. While we are working together, I do not possess or otherwise entire your body, but if necessary…I will help train you in magic should I find your progress too slow.**

Their hand stretched out further, palm still open. **Deal?**

 Hesitantly you reached for the small hand, before clasping it in your bones and giving a firm handshake.

“Deal.”

A second later magic jolted from your interlocked hands -red and copper- before dissipating.

 **Thank you. You won’t regret it.** Chara said with a too wide smile as your kitchen dissolved into blackness and Chara’s form blurred with it.

 _Said the devil to the sinner._ Was your last thoughts before you felt yourself catapulted from the void.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy Moly, this thing took forever! I had finished it back in October, but my computer got a virus that deleted everything. I was so pissed. 
> 
> This chapter is by far the longest I have wrote and easily the hardest and I am still not satisfied with how it came out. But after rewriting it from memory and editing the crap out of it I figured enough was enough and went with it.
> 
> Hope this is still good enough for your guys, and thanks to everyone who left behind a kudos or a review! Those kept me inspired even as I was contemplating chucking my computer against a wall.
> 
> So I will be trying to keep a schedule for this story! Every Wednesday I will try to post a chapter, even if it a short one! Let's see if I can actually do it!
> 
> Thanks again for reading this!


	12. The Tortoise makes his way to the finish line

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333.  
> Inspired by Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise.  
> If you have not read Kamari333 and Tyrant_Tortoise work, put this piece of trash down and go read their phenomenal stories!

* * *

 

Gerson groaned loudly as he made his way from his rented room at the Snow Inn to Grillby's, burrowing deeper into his coat. He always saw Snowdin as the absolutely worst part of the Underground, with its coldness and snow.

"aw, come on gerson. its not _snow_ bad here."

The ancient tortoise gave his companion a mirthless look, which only seemed to spur the young Judge on. _The residents leaves something to be desired as well._

"hey, no need to give me the _cold_ shoulder."

Gerson groaned again, which was echoed by the other skeleton he was traveling with.

"BROTHER! CEASE WITH THE PUNS!"

"okay, okay. _ice_ how it is."

_Stars, he is almost as bad as our Queen,_ the ancient shopkeeper thought, hurrying along.

“Look boy, I already told you to tell her I’d be there in three days. I ain’t a young un anymore, so I’ll move as fast as my shell can!”

“already informed her. I just _shell_ -y think you should see her sooner.”

“SANS!”

_I see how they could be friends,_ he thought dryly. _Her Majesty better have a good reason to drag my shell out here…oh, who am I kidding? She could just want a social visit and I’d still drag my creaking body there. Though_ , he pondered, eyes resting on the eternally grinning Judge as he drove his brother into another fit, _lately he has seemed…stressed. Punning and jokes aside, he has been practically hounding me to get to Queen Toriel. Or as close to hounding the lazy bones gets. And all this over a child with a badly deformed soul… my dear Queen, what have you been doing?_

 He slowed down a little as he watched the brothers interact. Papyrus was a loud and exuberant lad who dreamed of joining the Royal Guard. Captain Undyne occasionally would brag to him on how strong the lad was, and just how much control he possessed over his magic. This praise was peppered with criticism, because as strong and controlled as he was Undyne had stated she refused to let Papyrus into the Royal Guard because she believed that his general guilelessness and aversion to kill would make him ineffective at best and put him in danger at worst. Gerson didn’t personally know the boy well enough, but trusted Undyne to know. She had asked his advice on how to handle him, as she didn’t want to hurt his feelings but enjoyed his company and wished to still spend time with him.

Gerson suggested funneling his dedication towards a hobby the two of them could do, like cooking.

The older brother on the other hand, Gerson knew a bit more about due to King Asgore having monthly tea visits with him. Ol' King Fluffybuns tended to talk about all his subjects as though they were his children and he just had to brag to someone about them all, and he bragged about Undyne and Sans the most.

While he was considerably younger than his predecessors, Sans had so far been a good Judge. He may have been a punny bag of bones but he had a good head on his shoulders, with a keen sense and a pretty good judge of character. There weren't many who knew of his position (Gerson wasn't even sure Captain Undyne or the Royal Scientist knew who he was) and Gerson had gotten the impression that the boy preferred it that way. Many previous Judges had made it a point to let the populace know who they were, whether out of duty or asserting their authority. Sans on the other hand, seemed perfectly happy to let people assume he was a odd-jobs comedian who was also a lazy bum. Whether it was out of pragmatism or indifference he didn’t know, but Gerson did approve of the discretion.

He just worried the boy was starting to feel the pressure of his responsibility, as he remembered a few months back Sans seemed to have some kind of meltdown near his shop. He had started looking around like he wasn’t sure what he was seeing was right, and Gerson had noticed how he kept looking at his brother oddly, even commenting on Papyrus clothes and how it looked weird seeing him in his normal clothes. Papyrus looked just as confused as Gerson felt upon hearing that.

Gerson hadn’t told the King as Sans still seemed fine if a bit off, meltdown aside.

_If he does get odder, I’ll have to ask King Fluffybuns to give the boy a vacation._ Gerson vowed, finally reaching his destination. Opening the door he held it for his two younger companions, Papyrus letting out a put upon sigh as he marched in and Sans-

Sans was glaring at something further down the road, eye lights dimming. Gerson turned to see what had caused that look, but saw nothing.

~~With his back turned he didn’t see Sans turning his attention to the other side of the road, one of Sans’s eye lights blip out as the other filled with yellow and cyan colors, neither did he noticed the flower monster that immediately disappeared back in the snow.~~

Looking back, Gerson saw that Sans was once again smiling in a lax way, posture lazy as he walked in.

“you comin’?”

The tortoise nodded, feeling as though he missed something.

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter, but a chapter nonetheless.
> 
> Hope you liked it, despite its briefness.
> 
> Have a great day!
> 
> Chapters will be posted on Wednesdays.


	13. Of errands in the marketplace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333.  
> Inspired by Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise.  
> I want to do a shout out for Kamari333 and Tyrant_Tortoise, both of who have written incredible works that inspired me. If you have not read their work, go now. You are missing out!

 

* * *

 

Seeing Home marketplace was a little weird, especially now that you’ve seen what it had looked like back before the monster population went deeper into the Underground. When you had first seen the place you had been absorbed with its old world feel, like you had taken a step into the past. Now that you knew what it had looked like before you felt a little sad. The place was still enthralling to you, but now you could better understand why the locals said it looked different back in its heyday.

Speaking of locals, the shopkeepers and other buyers looked both surprised and happy to see you here, not that you blamed them for the surprised.

After all, you had walked here of your own volition… without Tori.

Though certainly not alone.

Glancing to your left and slightly up, you kept your face passive as Chara fluttered around, face lit up in childish glee.

This was a part of the deal you really could have done without. Apparently due to your reluctance to get possessed by aforementioned child, they decided that it would be more prudent to hang around you like a specter so that they could directly communicate with you instead, though they insisted it was so if you needed help in training they would be available.

Waking to that kid practically in your face had caused you to scream, making the little shit laugh. Mercifully Tori was downstairs and didn’t hear you.

After that wake-up call fiasco, you had found a paper and pen and started on an outline of what you needed to do. The main outline looked something like this:

  1. You have nine months to complete your end of the deal.
  2. Train your magic to control it.
  3. Get to New Home so you can reach barrier.
  4. Destroy barrier.
  5. Go home with you brother’s soul.
  6. Don’t fuck up.



A list of side notes was also included, such as;

 

  * Apologize to Tori. She didn’t deserve you being an ass. Invoke Mission: Apology Pie.
  * See if Tori will teach you magic. If not, see if one of the monsters in the Ruins would be willing. If that fails, you may need to leave the Ruins for training. I don’t care if they are being sincere, Chara is not an option. I will train under Jerry before that becomes an option.
  * Avoid Flowey like the plague. If this cannot be done, hit first and apologize later.
  * As getting to the barrier requires leaving the Ruins, you will inevitably run into Sans, Undyne, Mettaton and Asgore. DO NOT ENGAGE IN BATTLE! Also, do not run like a little bitch when you see them. You are a monster, not a human. They won’t attack you without reason.
  * Make yourself as inconspicuous as possible.
  * Make friends. They are people, not demons.
  * For the love of all things holy. DO. NOT. FANGIRL. IF/WHEN YOU MEET PAPYRUS OR ALPHYS. The last thing you need to do is make them think you are a crazy stalker or something.



There would be more added at a later date, once you had a clearer idea.

The Go-Home-or-Bust List (abbreviated to GHOBL, which was now safely tucked in the bottom drawer of your desk, under lock and key) was the reason that you had decided to leave the house.

After making a list from the kitchen and taking a moment to psych yourself up, telling and re-telling yourself Flowey wasn’t going to jump you the second you stepped outside…and ignored Chara’s mocking.

Once out the front door, you made a bee-line for Home market, a list clenched in your gloved hand and ethereal brat whining that you were going too fast for them to sight-see.

Soon enough you were in the market place, looking for the ingredients you needed.

You wanted to apologize to Tori for your outburst, and words felt too cheap to fully express your regret. You had never been eloquent with words, so instead you were going to show her that you were sorry. And to do that, you were going to do something you hadn’t done since you were living with your parents.

You were going to bake an apology pie.

Once when you were still a kid you had been messing around your parent’s bedroom and not paying attention and had knocked a porcelain figurine off. The figurine had shattered, and when your parents found out, your mother had been deeply upset because that figurine had been a gift from her father, who had passed away before you were born. You had managed to find all the pieces, and with your father’s help had painstakingly restored the small delicate ornament and to further show your regret, Nana had helped you make an apology pie, stating that the best way to say ‘I’m Sorry’ was with a baked good.

The trick she said was to make the one they liked from scratch, and since Mom loved chocolate fudge pie, you had to learn how to bake it. It took you four tries to get it, but by the end of it, Mom had a fixed keepsake and her favorite pie.

After that, any time you messed up found you hitting the store for ingredients, usually with you buying enough to feed a small army in your quest to make the perfect apology pie. This time was going to be different, seeing as you have never tried to make snail pie before.

 **It isn’t _that_ hard to make,** Chara sighed as they drifted near you.

Dutifully ignoring them, you continued your self-imposed errands. You had to abort talking to the kid on several occasions since arriving, seeing how you were the only one who could see or hear them and you had no desire for the residents here to think you were crazy.

Looking through the list once more, checking off another item. So far you had everything but the butter… and snails.

You knew where the snail stand was due to Tori buying from them often, so you made your way there.

As usual Sativa the Parsnik was manning the stand, a Medusa-like vegetable monster that was related to the vegetoids. While he was scary looking, he was a nice elderly guy who was in a long term relationship with one if the Migosp’s that ran the fabric stand. The monster’s eyes widen at seeing you and smiled. “Ms. Skeleton! I heard you were here! And by yourself!”

“Ah, yup. Wanted to make something for Tori.” You replied honestly. Savita looked absolutely ecstatic by your reply, which made you want to hide a little. You remembered your first meeting with this particular monster and was glad he still talked to you…considering that when you first met him you had screamed, climbed Tori like a latter and had screwed your eyes sockets shut. It was embarrassing then as it was now, and you were thankful Sativa hadn’t taken it personal.

You looked over the various colored snails, unsure of which to purchase. Toriel had given you a small amount of gold to use, and this was the first time you had decided to use it. Seeing how you’d be making several of these things till you got one that was perfect, you went for the cheap brown ones.

 **Not those ones! Those ones taste like beets!** Chara yelled loudly, causing you to jump. Savita inquired if you were alright, to which you replied that you were before trying to nonchalantly look to where Chara was. The kid swooped down to the ones on the far end, pointing to the smaller ones. **Get the blueish ones, they are her favorites.**

A frown marred your features as you went to the end table. The blue ones were considered the best quality but were also the most expensive.

Seeing your expression, Chara rolled their eyes. **You said you needed to make a really good pie to apologize to Mom. The blue ones taste better and are her favorite. Good pies require good quality, and these little suckers are the best.** The child finished, sounding extremely condescending.

You faked a yawn, hand swiping through the kid’s head. They gave you a raspberry.

Looking back over the snails, you mentally counted the amount you had on your person. You needed at least two pounds, a single pound of blue snails was six…counting out your money you had enough for that, though you’d need to come back for butter.

With your mind made up. You scooped the snails into a bag, careful not to spill any. Once done you went back to Savita, who was talking to the vegetoid that ran the fruit stand. They both smiled at you as you neared, the vegetoid saying their goodbyes before hopping back to their stand, leaving you and Savita with Chara wandering off again.

“That will be five gold for the whole order.” Savita said cheerfully as he finished bagging your order, causing you to nearly drop your money.

“Five? But the sign said six per a pound.” You exclaimed, looking back at the sign that remained unchanged.

“Usually yes, but seeing as this is the first time you’ve shopped here, I thought to give you a one-time discount.”

“B-but Tori and I have shopped here before.”

“Nah, that was Tori shopping and you tagging along. I know the difference. Besides, think of this as a ‘Welcome Home’ sort of deal.”

Seeing your bemused look, he spoke kindly. “Tori told us that you had lost your family and had nearly fallen down because of it. It was why I didn’t take any offense to your- _heh_ -’primal greeting’ when we first met. Losing your loved ones, loosing so much hope… I don’t think I would have managed it half as well as you have. It also explained why Tori is so protective of you, after all she had-” abruptly he cut himself off and with no subtlety changed topics. “Well, anyways… think of this as an old veggie saying that he, and everyone else in the Ruins is here for you.”

Though you had no throat, you still felt a lump forming in it. A quick thank-you and you left with your purchase, torn between feeling touched by Savita’s words and undeserving of them.

You decided you have been social enough and started making your way back to Toriel’s home, feeling conflicted.

On one hand, everyone you have encountered has been nothing but kind and friendly to you (Flowey being the eternal exception to that) and you felt a kinship with the inhabitants of the Ruins you haven’t felt since you had been living at your parents. On the other hand, a part of you felt like you were being pitied, seeing as they were all under the assumption that you were a monster who had suffered a great lost…

Chara floated next to you, a puzzled look on their face. **They all think your family is dead? Why would Mom…oh.** Chara stopped, looking thoughtful. **I guess it would be easier to explain it like that then saying you are a surface monster, and that isn’t even the weird part about you… are you going to tell her the truth?**

Instead of answering you shrugged, making a ‘I don’t know’ noise.

 _Okay, I need to think about something else. Focus on something else!_ You mentally yelled at yourself, pushing away at those thoughts.

Unfortunately, your mind immediately focused on your situation, something you have been trying to ignore.

Nine months. You had nine months to break a millennia old barrier before a child who was routinely possessed got there. You succeed, not only did you get to go home but your brother’s soul would be returned. You fail… well, you would be trapped forever as a monster, possibly doomed to relive every new playthrough as Chara kept Ivan’s soul for god only knows what purpose.

 _Three months ago, this was all just a game, to be played as the player saw fit. Now, I don’t think I will ever touch another game console as long as I live._ Had you taken control of Frisk when you played the neutral and Pacifist routes?

 _It was just a game,_ you thought with a shiver. _A game that apparently allows you to actually sell your soul._ Did those people notice at all? Had Ivan been different after he went through with it? You tried to think of any changes but came up with nothing.

How did something like that become a game? Were all video games like that? How-

Something tackled you, causing you to stumble back as excited squeaks of, “Miss Skeleton! Miss Skeleton!” rang out, Chara drifting in front of you with a amused smile on their face.

It took you a moment to register that there was a tiny white Loox dressed in a striped shirt and a backpack hugging your pelvis, a massive smile on their face and the bluest eye color you have ever seen looking up at you in happy glee.

“Lookie Eyewalker! You better get back here- oh! Miss Skeleton! Good to see you! Is Tori nearby?”

An adult Loox approached you, female if you had to guess by the feminine voice and long fluttery eyelashes. You didn’t know why but she(?) looked familiar.

“Ah, no. Just me today.” You replied, placing a steadying hand on the child who was stubbornly clinging to you despite their grip slipping.

The Loox eye widen in surprise before she(?) smiled wide, looking delighted.

“I’m glad you’re finally coming out on your own! Tori kept saying you just needed time to adjust! Guess living in the Ruins is different than Hotland, huh? Not as wide open I bet.”

“How did you guess I was from Hotland?” You were confused by her(???) words (where did the idea you came from Hotland come from?), so you carefully worded your question, remembering Toriel’s words about what happened when you lie.

“When you first came, Tori kept saying you came from far away, and New Home in Hotland is as far from the Ruins as you can get. That and you keep looking to the ceiling, like you expect it to be higher.”

Rubbing the back of your head, you didn’t dispute any of this. Chara reclined in the air, looking thoughtful again. **Well when you think about it, it probably is better for them to think you hailed from further in the Underground. That is a logical assumption to go on.** **Why were you looking up- ah. You were looking for the sky, weren’t you?**

Surreptitiously looking at the kid you gave the barest hint of a nod. Even though you knew you were under ground, you kept looking up in hopes of seeing the sun, the sky, the moon, the stars, anything… only to see a rocky ceiling.

 _Whoever erected the barrier were a bunch of asswipes and I hope they are suffering,_ you thought bitterly.

“Miss Skeleton! Miss Skeleton!” the little Loox -Lookie?- whined, pulling on your robe.

Directing your attention to the small child you smiled wider, hoping to convey that they had your attention. “Yes, sweetie?”

They finally let go, pulling off a backpack. After a moment of digging they looked up to their parent, loudly begging their Mom (so they are a she!) to help them find something. Their mother rolled her eye before pointing to the front pocket, Lookie letting out a triumphant cry as they dug the thing they were looking for, waving it in front of you. “Here! I made this for you!”

**Why had a Loox child made you something?**

Softly you took the item, examining it before a surprised laugh escaped.

It was a mask. A salmon pink paper-mache with large filmy eyes, bulging cheeks and lips that were puckered in a comical fashion. It was surprisingly well made, and you told Lookie so. The child puffed up from the praise.

“Try it on!”

With a shrug you did as they wanted, tying it off in the back. Lookie smiled widely as Chara laughed at you.

“I did a great job! Do you like it?”

 **She looks like a sucker fish!** Chara cackled, rolling in circles as they laughed harder

Ignoring the ghost child, you replied to Lookie’s question with a amused tone, “Coolest mask ever. So, what made you want to give me a mask? Not that I’m ungrateful, I just wasn’t expecting a master mask maker to be giving me one of their wonderful creations today.”

Lookie looked both proud from the praise and bashful, scuffing their toes against the ground. “I wanted to make you something, as ‘Thank you’ for rescuing me from the ceiling.”

 _That’s why their mom looked familiar! She helped heal my useless wing when I crashed! Wait, this was the kid I rescued?_ You only remember trying to calm them down and hadn’t actually gotten a good look at the kid. That and you had been terrified out of your mind at the sudden free fall and subsequent landing.

Still, you felt like an idiot for not recognizing them.

 Lookie shyly looked up at you, “I remember that story you told about the Hero and those masks and wanted to make some, but I didn’t know what they looked like, so I made my own…” they trailed off, looking unsure. Well you couldn’t have that.

Dropping to one knee, you lifted the mask giving the biggest smile you could, hoping the kid could feel the contentment you felt. “Thank you. This is a wonderful gift, and I’ll treasure it.”

Suddenly you found yourself knocked on your tailbone as Lookie gave you a tackle hug, thanking you again for catching them.

“Alright, Lookie. We have to go home now.” Their mother said as she gently took the child from your lap.

After thanking you again the kid ran off, giggling as they went. You and the mother watched on. After a moment she turned to you, a large smile on her face.

“I’m Evah Eyewalker. I wanted to thank you again, for saving my child. I-I don’t want to think what would have happened had you not been there…”

Flushing, you started to rub the back of your head but forgot you had the mask still perched on there, knocking it back over your face. Chara and the older Loox laughed, though Evah’s was not in a mean way.

She waited till you got the mask off before speaking again, “I was hoping to invite you and Tori to dinner sometime soon. Would that be alright?”

“I, uh…I’d like that, but you’ll need to ask Tori. I don’t want to presume on her behalf.”

“Of course! Here is my phone number!”

And with a promise to call, you headed back, feeling oddly light hearted. You were still worried and scared you’d screw up, but you pushed those aside for now. Right now, you wanted to keep feeling hopeful, stay confident and keep moving forward!

Chara floated near you, waving lazily. **Hey, you forgot the butter.**

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We now have a couple of named people! And yes, they will be making more appearances.
> 
> Next up, Ivory bakes an apology pie and Tori and her have a talk!
> 
> Dun dun DUUUUN!


	14. Pies and Loneliness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333.  
> Inspired by Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise.  
> If you have not read their works, go there now.

* * *

 

Toriel tread through the hall, stretching as she went. She had been chatting with her friend for a good solid three hours and while it was both amusing and informative, she wanted to get back upstairs and try to coax Ivory out of her room again. She was getting seriously worried with her young friend’s reclusiveness.

_If she doesn’t get out of that room soon, I’m breaking that door down._ Toriel silently vowed.

Stopping at the stairs, the goat monster took a deep breath. Her friend had told her that Gerson was on the way and would arrive in about three days. She needed to tell Ivory about his arrival… and why she had requested his presence. A small part of her felt guilty for not consulting with Ivory before hand but Toriel felt it necessary due to Ivory’s previous reluctance when it came to her soul.

No, that wasn’t fair. Toriel had avoided the topic just as much as the young skeleton. Between the disturbing shape that pulsated, the creepy ‘lub-DUB’ noise it emitted and the incredible menacing presence it exuded when out or being used, Toriel had honestly no desire to get near it again.

How a soul could get warped in such a horrific manner and survive such trauma Toriel didn’t know, but she hoped for Ivory’s sake that it didn’t have some unseen side effect. Better to be on the safe side and have Gerson look her over and hope it wasn’t as bad as it looked… and if it was, Gerson would have a solution on how to help.

Still, she needed to get Ivory to leave her room. With a resolute nod Toriel climbed the stairs, a fierce look on her face.

As she got higher she started to noticed a smell. It smelled like… fresh snail pie?

Quickening her pace, Toriel was soon at the top of the stairs, the smell stronger now. Making her way to the kitchen Toriel heard Ivory puttering around, muttering loud enough to be heard but not enough to be intelligible. It almost sounded like she was arguing with someone…

Toriel got to the kitchen door and peaked in. The kitchen was a mess, with bowls littering the counters as well as ingredients, the garbage can look to have a lot of shucked snail shells in it. At the oven was Ivory wearing an frilly apron that was perfect for someone Toriel’s size but on the skeleton looked comical. She appeared to be trying to pull out a large pie from the oven, mutterings of ‘Almost, almost’ filling the air as she hefted the pie out. Ivory struggled for a moment before successfully getting it onto the stove top, sighing in relief once it was finally there and backing up to view her work, satisfaction pouring off her.

“Done! Hope she likes it… shut up, pest.” After saying this the skeleton made a hand gesture Toriel didn’t recognize to her left, annoyance spiking through the satisfaction momentarily before dissipating so quickly Toriel wasn’t certain she actually felt it in the first place.

Shock and surprise spiked off Ivory as she suddenly jolted, whipping around with an alarmed look on their skull. “Tori!”

Toriel smiled brightly, happy at the sight of Ivory actually out and about. _She’s out!_ _I don’t have to break down any doors! But… where did she get the ingredients? I haven’t shopped yet this week._

She wanted to pull Ivory into a hug but stayed where she was. Things have been tense between them and Toriel had no desire to make things more awkward by pushing her friend unless necessary. She could see her friend fidgeting as the pulled on their sleeves, a nervous habit Toriel had picked up on.

Finally, Ivory took a deep breath and smiled. It was an awkward smile but a smile, nonetheless.

“So, I made you some tea and pie… hope it’s good.”

For a moment Toriel thought that was all Ivory was going to say. But the skeleton monster just took another deep breath and continued.

“It’s an apology. For screaming at you and for my thoughtless words. You didn’t deserve that and… I really am sorry.” Ivory finished, regret, shame and genuine contrition fell off her like water from a fountain.

 Oh. Oh, Toriel was not having that.

Before she could stop herself Toriel was at Ivory’s side, hugging her tightly. Ivory stood stock still for all of ten seconds before hugging back as tightly as she could.

“My friend, you need not apologize. I had seen that my questions were distressing you yet disregarded your growing discomfort, wanting to sate my own curiosity. If anyone is at fault it’s me.”

“Still shouldn’t have screamed those things.” Ivory replied, voice muffled by Toriel’s fabric

“You only screamed because I ignored the signals your soul was sending out.”

Ivory gave an oddly wet sounding chuckle. “Let’s agree we both could have handled that better.”

The goat monster hummed in agreement, content that this had been resolved. They still needed to communicate better, and as soon as she had tried some of that pie Toriel intended to remedy that. She still had things to tell the younger monster.

Letting go Toriel smiled brightly at Ivory, who was giving off strong feelings of relief and happiness. Toriel made for the oven, eyes on the massive pie.

“Now let us try this creation of yours! I don’t recall having enough to make a pie though…”

“Well, no you didn’t. That’s why I went out shopping it.”

Toriel stopped, looking at Ivory with wide eyes.

“You… you went out by _yourself_ to get the ingredients?” Toriel asked, astonishment and incredulity evident in her voice. This… this was even better then she hoped!

“Uh, yeah. You wouldn’t be the first person to be surprised by that. I’m fairly certain the entire market place stopped to express their shock at seeing me there by myself.”

It took all of Toriel’s self-control to glomp the younger monster out of sheer joy. Instead she allowed her own happiness to flow out, mingling it with maternal pride to let Ivory know she was so proud of her. Ivory didn’t react but Toriel was content.

She turned back to the pie ~~missing Ivory make a face at seemingly empty air as the skeleton made a ‘cut-it-out’ gesture,~~ looking at the golden brown crust with admiration. Grabbing a knife, she cut appropriate sizes for her and Ivory before stopping momentarily in surprise.

“Wait… is this blue snail?”

“Um, yes? I heard it was the best quality and wanted the pie to be perfect. Should I have gone with something different?” Ivory replied, anxiously tugging her sleeve as nervousness wafted off her for a moment.

“oh, no! Blue snails my favorite! I was just surprised to see it because they are so expensive- wait. How much did you spend on ingredients?”

Ivory stared blankly for a moment before speaking in a tone that was flat. “Yeaaaaahno. You are not paying me back.”

“But-”

“Tori, I wanted to bake this for you. Please just accept it and don’t try to sneak gold into my things.” Ivory gave a rather pointed look at this statement, probably recalling how Toriel had snuck gold into Ivory’s drawers when the girl had refused to take the money.

Toriel agreed, but still decided to put some gold in her room anyway. Later. When she wasn’t expecting it.

“I’ll, uh, set the table.” Ivory offered, going to the dining area ~~glaring at a space near her head the second she was out of sight, whispering “Kid, stop being a little shit. That wasn’t funny.”~~

Toriel hummed happily as she finished pouring the drinks, taking both the cups and pie-laden plates with her to the dining room, just as Ivory finished setting the silverware down.

After sitting down, Toriel took a tentative bite of the snail pie.

The snails were almost too done, and Ivory must had added a little too much salt but other then that it was delicious. Looking up from her place, Toriel found Ivory watching her, concerned no doubt about the quality. Toriel smiled brightly as she gave an honest critique on the pie, adding that for a first attempt this was very good.

Ivory smiled back, promising it would be better next time.

Soon the two were talking about Ivory’s trip to the market place, and Toriel felt lighter at sharing meals again.

She never said it, but she had genuinely missed Ivory’s company. After living by herself pretty much for two centuries with only the residence of the Ruins and Home for company, who treated her as a respected elder and protector but nothing more (with each new generation being unaware of who she used to be and the elders keeping quite after she had requested them to not say anything), Toriel had gotten used to living by herself. Her friend beyond the door eased the pain of loneliness, and Toriel had been happily content and grateful for the company, even if a door separated them.

When Toriel had taken the position from Gerson, she had forced herself to get used to an empty home that rarely got visitors. She powered through her loneliness because she had a self-appointed duty to fulfill. She had vowed to be a protector of the humans who would fall, vowed to keep them safe from Asgore, a vow she failed, again and again.

Each human in the end left, desperate to go back home. The last human child to leave had stayed the longest, a full year before they left. After they left, she renewed her vow, promising that the next one would not leave, even if she had to destroy the entrance to the rest of the Underground. The monsters could rebuild, an innocent life could not be returned.

_And now,_ Toriel thought listened to Ivory as she spoke about how she forgot the butter and had genuinely considered seducing the moldsmal trader for it, _I have monsters to watch out for as well._ While Ivory clearly hadn’t meant to fall down here, she hadn’t tried to leave either, resigned to her fate of being trapped down here.

Toriel felt for the girl, but after several months living together, Toriel had been thankful that Ivory fell down here because she finally had someone here to share her books with, her ideas, and accompany her on her rounds, though a small part of her felt guilty for being happy due to someone else’s misfortune. Toriel hadn’t realized just how lonely she had become till Ivory came along and had felt her friend locking herself away like a physical blow. It made her talk to her friend behind the door longer then usual, in hopes that Ivory would come out on her own, and while it had worked Toriel did not want to experience that again.

_Two centuries more or less alone, and now I can’t bring myself to do that again after only a few months with good company…_ The former queen mused, finishing her pie.

Soon the table was cleared and the two of them started on the kitchen. Ivory tried to do all of it, stating that she should clean it up as she had made the mess but Toriel was stubborn. Soon enough the ingredients were put away (just how much had Ivory bought? There was enough here for another pie!), the counters cleared and cleaned and the two started on the dishes, Toriel washing and Ivory drying.

The conversation had died a little, but the atmosphere between the two was still lively and cordial, though Toirel did catch Ivory scowling at the wall for a moment but when asked the skeleton just waved her off.

After a lapse of silence, Toriel decided to start on the topic she has been needing to have with the displaced monster.

“I wanted you to know that I have asked an old friend of mine to visit. His name is Gerson, and he is one of the best healers in the Underground.” Toriel said, eyes on the plate she was scrubbing.

Ivory jolted, looking worried as concern bled off her. “Are you sick?”

“No, I’m fine. I asked him to come and… check up on you actually.” She finished in a gentle tone.

Confusion wafted off the skeleton. “Um, why? I’m not sick.”

“Gerson is one of the oldest practitioners of healing magic, but his specialty lies in healing the soul.”

A feeling of realization momentarily spiked by panic swirled around the younger monster. Toriel kept her focus on the dishes, allowing Ivory a moment.

~~Toriel didn’t see Ivory tilting her head to the left, eye sockets screaming at seemingly empty air before a look of someone listening very closely before looking back at Toriel.~~

After a minute or two Toriel felt Ivory’s chaotic emotions settle, calm yet cautious, and felt it was good enough to continue. “I know there hasn’t been any issues with it, but the shape and color of your soul still leaves me concerned. He won’t do anything invasive, just a better view of your STATS, over all health and perhaps give me a better idea on how to help you with your magic.”

“So…this is just a checkup?” Ivory inquired lightly, drying the plate a tad harder than necessary.

“I guess you could say that.” Toriel giggled, glad to see that Ivory wasn’t against it.

~~Ivory was in fact very against it, but an unseen force was making good points on why she should go for it, if only to get a better understanding of her own magic.~~

“And,” Toriel hesitated, knowing Ivory might not like what she was about to suggest, “it might be easier for him to get a better diagnose if he… knew where you came from.”

**CR _A_ CK**

What followed was a sudden an eerie cut off of all Ivory’s emotions. It was so sudden Toriel looked to the skeleton to see if she was alright.

And was greeted by skull devolved of any emotions and empty eye sockets, holding two halves of a plate.

“Ivory?” The goat monster said in a gentle motherly tone, lightly touching Ivory’s shoulder.

After a rather long silence, Ivory blinked rapidly with a deep breath, eye lights returning a apprehension and acceptance whorled around her. Dropping the broken plate in the trash, the younger monster slouched a little, hand coving her face. She nodded, as though she was agreeing to something.  “Okay. Okay. It’s a good plan. Valid.”

For some reason, Toriel felt as though Ivory was agreeing about something else entirely but brushed it aside as the skeleton let out a rattling breath. Looking up to her, Ivory had a grim yet determined expression.

“Well, if it helps I will allow him to know… as long as he doesn’t ask about my family…or makes me tell talk about the monster communities. Please.”

Toriel nodded, deciding she’d tell her old friend about the communities when he got here. Still, this was going much better than she thought it would. Finishing the last dish, Toriel removed her rubber gloves, placing a clawed hand on the now pouting skeleton.

“Thank you. He’ll be here in about three days. Don’t worry, Gerson is very good at his job! Now, I have my evening patrols. Would you like to come along?”

The skeleton shrugged but followed after, tugging her gloves back on.

“Oh, before I forget. Evah Eyewalker has invited us for dinner. Can we go?”

Toriel was pretty sure if it was physically possible, she would have burst from pride and happiness by now.

Wait till she tells her friend behind the door about this!

 

* * *

 

"Tra la la... why don't you sing with me?...Tra la...la?...it's...happening again?"

 

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author: Ivory, stop glaring at the wall. That wall has done nothing to you!  
> Ivory: Now I know how Eddie Brocks feels like, having to deal with an annoying talkative pest only I can hear.  
> Chara: IVORY! I WANT CHOCOLATE!
> 
> Enjoy the cliffhanger!


	15. Lull

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333.  
> Inspired by Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise.  
> I want to do a shout out for Kamari333 and Tyrant_Tortoise, both of who have written incredible works that inspired me. If you have not read their work, go now. You are missing out!

* * *

 

 

The child fluttered around, red eyes rolling so hard you were surprised they actually didn’t roll out of their head. **Relax. Its just a, what do humans call it? A physical? Think of it like the monster equivalent of a physical.**

Sitting at your desk in your bedroom you leaned back, scowling at the annoying child who had a penchant for irritating the hell out of you. “Riiiiight. Except its my soul that is getting it.”

Chara held out a hand, voice sweet and condescending. **Awwww, it’s okay baby bones. I’ll protect you from the big bad turtle.** **Want me to hold your hand during it?**

You once more flip them the bird, something you abused ever since Chara let it slip that they didn’t know what that hand gesture meant (though they did understand that it wasn’t a nice gesture). It turned out that monsters didn’t know what it meant either, so you tended to flip Chara one often.

Chara just laughed, wandering off looking relaxed.

You on the other felt like a mess of emotions. On one hand, knowing more about your soul could help you in the long-term planning. On the other hand, your soul was such a weird thing that you actually worried he might think you were an abomination or needed to be put down or something.

“Look kid, can’t you just tell me why my soul looks like this?"

The child sighed in exasperation. **I told you, that is just how the souls in your world look like. _All_ of them look like that. They only start looking like my world’s souls if you remove the spirit part.**

“How? The two shapes look nothing alike!”

**I donno, they just always reshaped into them after I removed the spirit.**

“How come you don’t know? You have done it thousands of times!”

**Do you have any idea how many trial and errors I went through before I figured out how to do it correctly?**

That silenced you really quick, horror apparent on your skull.

 _Aaaaaaand on that terrifying note, we switch topics!_ You decided, trying to think of something else other then the fact the kid pretty much just admitted to playing quack doctor on who knows how many souls.

 ~~You ignored the ever-present voice that frantically reminded you that you were now being haunted by a dead child~~.

Gerson was coming tomorrow. A part of you was excited to see another person from the game that you recognized but the reason behind his visit soured the experience for you.

Chara seemed to think that while your soul would raise some _~~LOTS~~_ red flags, Gerson was going to be professional and helpful. According to the brat, Gerson was probably going to assume like Toriel that you had a mishap with some human and that you somehow absorbed the other guys soul, thus explaining why your soul was the way it was. Very few monsters had ever absorbed a human soul and most of them died shortly after, usually on the battlefield ~~you noticed Chara didn’t mention the incident with Asriel while citing about monsters absorbing human souls~~. It meant that there were few to no documents on it and most of those were speculations on it at best. In short, there just wasn’t enough cases to study.

That didn’t stop you from wanting to hide in a hole somewhere until he left, even if Chara did mock you endlessly for it.

Still, you were curious to see what you could do, and admittedly a professional would aide in that.

You just hoped it went better then you thought it would.

**Okay, quit pouting already! Unlike me, you aren’t cute enough to pull it off… but you are rocking the old bag of bones look. In time I bet you could even pull off the senile look as well!**

You whipped around to where the kid was floating, you ‘lips’ pressed into a tight line as you glared at the kid who just grinned wider.

~~You weren’t aware of the coppery light that sparked from your left eye as your right dimmed to near nothing. It was gone in a handful of heart beats, but Chara still saw it.~~

You reached into you bag, fishing around for a moment. You had bought this for entirely petty reasons, and Chara was getting on your last nerve.

Finally finding it you held up a bar of chocolate. Chara’s grinned dropped to a ‘oh’, eyes glued to the bar as they made grabby hands at it, despite both of you knowing they couldn't actually touch it.

Maintaining eye contact, you slowly unwrapped the bar till it was half way down. Then slowly you raised to your teeth and took a big bite, then chewed with deliberate slowness. You didn’t care if it was spiteful, Chara’s dismayed face was worth it.

“Mmmm. Chocolate.”

**You are pure evil.**

 

* * *

 

Bratty was getting a little worried about Catty. Just this morning Catty and she had been joking around, planning to flirt with that cat monster who’s name she kept forgetting at MTT to see if he’d smuggle out a couple of burgers when suddenly Catty stopped and looked around with a scared and befuddled look on her face.

At first, she seemed fine, saying that she must have been a little confused, but through out the day she kept looking around all weird and like, saying she felt like she had a really intense sense of deja vu? On top of that Catty kept clinging to her as though she was afraid Bratty was going to disappear, saying she just happy Bratty was safe.

It was seriously weirding Bratty out, like total odd and so not like her friend.

Maybe they should call it a day, let Catty get some sleep. Maybe she was just tired. Either way, Bratty was totally there for her BFF.

Even if her BFF was acting like she had witnessed her getting dusted.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short, but on time. Yays!
> 
> I am really enjoying writing Chara and Ivory's interactions.
> 
> And what is going on with the rest of the Underground?
> 
> Next Ivory meets Gerson!
> 
> Thanks for reading! ^_^


	16. Widespread Changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333.  
> Inspired by Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise.  
> I want to do a shout out for Kamari333 and Tyrant_Tortoise, both of who have written incredible works that inspired me. If you have not read their work, go now. You are missing out!

* * *

 

 

He was trying something new. As he couldn’t recall ever being this far back before, Flowey had discovered he had what was basically new people to test out on, even if they were technically the same people.

He had been messing with certain people, re-reading on current events, trying to see what had and had not changed. A year into the past may not seem like a big thing, but for someone who has/had control over a very small timeloop that only he and two others were consciously aware of? It was a big thing.

He had never been able to go back this far, and even after Frisk/Chara came and took his power away they hadn’t been able to go any further back either.

Something from the last loop had changed, he’d bet his damn petals on it. He just didn’t know what. It had been a normal genocide route, Chara slaughtering everyone and the fear he felt towards them that always happened during those moments before he was crushed to death by an unseen force, he knew had to have been Chara. Pain then restart, pain and feeling drying up to nothing, the usual.

Going back this far was new. No longer knowing what was going on was new. And _she_ was _definitely_ new.

 _And dangerous_ , he hissed as he rubbed a leave against his face in a futile effort to ease the pain. When people attack him the pain usually only lasted a second or two, like when he gets hit with Toriel’s fireballs. It never lingered, and the damage was always gone within the hour.

That outsider’s kick shouldn’t have hurt as badly as it did, yet days after she had inflicted it upon him, he still hurt. It reminded of a bruise; it can be ignored but every time you moved that part it reminded you it was still there.

The pain should be gone already, yet it persisted. It was becoming an annoyance… and was beginning to worry him. What was wrong with her magic that even after it was gone, he felt the pain? And on top of this nuisance? He kept getting jolts of emotions.

They were little things, barely there and only spiking at random times but he kept feeling small bouts of them. He had been happy for a moment, sad in another, and even felt shame once. All randomly, and with no apparent pattern, then it would be gone just as fast. It was weird, and he knew that somehow it was her magic that was doing it.

When he had gone to her, he had intended to befriend her so he could figure how she ticked, find out what to say to get her to trust him and utilize this unknown piece in the game. He had not expected to see the raw terror in her sockets… or the recognition.

She somehow knew him, even though they never met before. It was the only thing he could think of as for why she attacked him. It meant he couldn’t fool her, but also that he didn’t have to play the sweet innocent flower around her either.

It was just another puzzle he would be enjoying figuring out.

 _But for now,_ he mused as his roots grew deeper into the cracks of the building. _Let’s see how you handle this._ He grinned, a jagged slit that winced as the pain in his face throbbed.

The building over looked the Market place, and it was in dire need of repair as the foundation was wearing thin. In the other timeline the Froggit masons fixed it months before the loop started. Here?

 _Well, I always wanted to see what happens if you collapse a building._ He giggled. The only thing that would have made this better was if people still lived in it. He just needed to wait for Toriel and the outsider to arrive, to see what that bonehead would do.

His face twinge again, and he felt an odd sensation zip through him. It felt wrong, like he was going to be s **i** Ck, Li **K** e h **e** **_w_** ~~an~~ tEd TO ᔕT **O** ᑭ wHɐ **t** h€ wA _ **s**_ d ** _ ~~oin~~_** g aNd _ʎɹɔ_ _i̸_ _’M S **o** RяY-_-

Then nothing. The feeling was gone as quickly as it came.

He pushed it aside, focusing on ensuring that the building wouldn’t collapse before he wanted it to. He had an experiment to run.

 

* * *

 

“I’m sorry, I guess you could say you’ve tickled my _funny bone_?”

The short skeleton actually laughed at that, and Gerson just rolled his eyes as the headache he had been developing got bigger with each thrown pun.

He knew he should have just hoofed it by himself, but the young Judge was insistent on going with. And now that he and the queen have formally met face-to-skull they have been cracking puns nonstop.

Don’t get him wrong, he was happy to see her. But he has had to endure three days of Sans popping up unexpectedly and punning over everything. He felt a deep well of empathy for Papyrus. If Sans was his brother, he might have tried to cave his head in a long time ago.

“I can’t belief _ulna_ say that to me. pretty _humerus_ of ya.”

By the stars and angel, _enough_.

“My Q-My dear, please. It is cold out here and you said this was urgent.” Gerson said in an irritable tone, hoping the skeleton didn’t noticed his near slip up.

“hey now, no need to get _snappy.”_

Toriel had another fit of giggles as Gerson groaned loudly. “I’m sorry Gerson, we _shell-_ y should head back up.”

“yeah, you should _turtle_ -ly get going. gimme a call when you get back out.” The cheeky little numbskull said with a smile as he waved before turning around and walking away as Gerson snapped out that he wasn't a turtle.

“later.”

 _My sympathy goes out to you, Papyrus._ he thought as they watched the skeleton meander off.

As soon as the door shut, Gerson dropped to one knee, head bowed. “My Queen,” he started only to be swept up into a tight hug.

“None of that. I’m no queen anymore, and I am glad to see you again old friend.”

Gerson returned the embrace. “You’ll always be my queen, bad puns and all.”

That elicited a laugh from her. She set him back down, a fond smile on her face.

“Thank you for coming on such short noticed.”

“Well, that numbskull wouldn’t leave me be until I got here. He said you have a child in your care with a deformed soul?”

Toriel looked away, sighing. “If it was only that simple.”

Seeing the questioning look he was sporting, the former queen continued. “The one I need you to see is called Ivory. She is a skeleton monster, and if I had to guess easily in her early fifties.”

Gerson hummed, surprised there were more skeletons left in the Underground. They had taken a massive hit during the War, and the numbers had dwindled till there were only the two brothers that he knew of. He hadn’t been aware that some must have crossed over to the Ruins in the last century or two. “So not a child, just a young adult.” _Around Papyrus' age to boot._

“There is more.” She said in a tone that made him stand straighter. Whether she was aware or not, when she spoke in that tone, he was immediately reminded of her status as queen (even if she insisted she wasn’t one anymore, she would always be queen). “What I am about to tell you cannot get out, no matter what.”

At his nod, she continued. “There are two things you must know about Ivory. The first and most urgent is her soul. Ivory has a colored soul.”

The ancient turtle sucked in a breath. The only way a monster had a colored soul was if they absorbed a human soul. He hadn’t personally seen what their souls looked like after the absorption he had seen the monsters in question battle. They were juggernauts of power, and it took a lot of humans to dust them.

Suddenly his Queen’s urgency made sense. This hasn’t happened since… since the prince and his sibling had merged their souls and died shortly after. There had been many rumors over that, some sad, some bad, some he dared not repeat in the same building as his sovereigns.

All they knew was that the human child had gotten sick and died, the prince absorbed their soul and walked through the barrier only to come back grievously injured before dusting in his parents’ arms. This led to his monarchs splitting due to Asgore grief-induced oath to kill all the humans, and Toriel taking his old station in order to try and protect those that fell.

Gerson swallowed hard. Had a human fallen and this Ivory killed and absorbed their soul? He didn’t think that was likely seeing as Toriel would probably never forgive the murder of a human innocent, so how had this happened? Perhaps it had been similar to what happened with the Queen’s children, a human dying and the monster taking the soul after they had perished.

“As I have never seen the result of absorbing a human soul, I do not know what happens to the monster soul. I say this because, well, I believe the absorption had warped her soul into… you’ll just have to see for yourself. I cannot put it into words.”

A shutter of horror wavered around him, mixed with profound worry. Whatever had happened had deeply disturbed his queen. “Are you certain?"

"Yes. Her injuries were extensive. I had to pull it out to check it. then after she was well enough, she had requested to see it and...well... I pulled it out for her, seeing as she doesn't know how to." Toriel replied, looking uncomfortable. Not that he blamed his queen. Unlike when pulling out humans souls, pulling another monster's soul out was something that only happened during doctor checks... and more intimate settings, such as bonding or to create a child. "Do you know how it happened?”

“No, and neither does she.”

 _What?_ The question bled into his magic, allowing the queen to feel his enquiry.

“I found her, badly injured. She had been unconscious for nearly three weeks under my care before she finally came to. Eventually she told me where she came from. And this is the second secret I need you to keep my friend.”

Toriel looked excited though he felt a thrum of sadness in it.

“Ivory is from the surface!”

He was fairly certain had he been eating or drinking something he would have choked on it. Instead he choked on air, coughing roughly before looking up at his queen in shock.

“Are you sure?!”

“Absolutely! I had her describe the sky, the moon, sun, stars, ocean! Everything! And her answers only proved her claim! And she acts like how many of us did when we were first trapped under here! She has been here for months and she still looks up for the sky.”

He sat heavily on the ground, not bothering to hide his shock. “A surface monster… our people didn’t get completely trapped down here… Wahaha!”

His laughter was a mixture of incredibility and joy. Looking back at his queen he saw her smiling but felt a wave of sadness. His magic gently probed at hers, letting her know he wanted to know more.

“Yes, we still have people up there…but… they are a shadow of themselves.”

Gerson listened as Toriel told Ivory’s tale, how the monsters on the surface stayed hidden and had successfully convinced the humans they were not real but had lost so much of not just their culture but their ability to use magic. She told him of Ivory’s completely and total lack of magical education, how she had never used magic, how the monsters on the surface had lost so much of their magic that it was considered pretty much gone.

By the end of it, Gerson was rather horrified. “By the Angel, it would have been better had they gotten trapped with us. How can they have survived so long under the assumption magic is gone? You can’t have children without it! Just how weak is this poor child that she had never felt magic before falling down here?!”

Toriel looked forlorn, but firm. She started walking away, and Gerson stood to keep up with her. “Magically illiterate she may be, Ivory isn’t weak. She is adapting better then we did when we first were sealed away. While her soul worries me deeply, as does her complete lack of control over her own emotions, she has shown to still be strong in hope even after everything she has suffered and lost.”

Well, that was something. Gerson had lost count of the sheer number of monsters that had fallen down shortly after being sealed under the mountain.

They had reached the stairs when she turned to him, looking sternly at him. “Please do not ask her about her family or about the surface communities. She still grieves their lost, and I want this to go well. She didn’t say it but she is deeply anxious about meeting you, and I think she actually fears you will think her unnatural due to her soul.”

“I understand. Can you at least give me an idea what is wrong with her soul?”

“I…I just _can’t_. I have never in all my life seen or heard anything like her soul.” _‘Heard’?_ “I ask that you do not judge her by what you feel or see when you get her soul out. She is just as lost about this.”

He ambled up the stairs after his queen, feeling both anxious and excited to meet this Ivory.

Once at the top Gerson looked around and did not comment that the place resembled Asgore’s home, just with more colors as he did not believe she’d appreciate the comparison. A lovely aroma filled the air, and the two headed for the kitchen.

Back facing them and harshly whisking something in a bowl, was the skeleton in question. From what he could tell she wore a robe similar to the queens, but it seemed to have a window in the back that showed part of her spine and rips, and to his surprise a pair of tiny wings that clacked together like a couple of small bony pincers.

 “Ivory,” Toriel spoke, catching the girl’s attention. “this is Gerson.”

He tilted his head, looking up at the lithe looking monster.

After hearing her story and about the monsters on the surface he was honestly expecting a sickly mimicry of a skeleton, but Ivory appeared to be like any normal skeleton monster, except that her bones were bleached. _Probably from a lifetime in the sun,_ he thought as he studied the nervous monster. Sans and Papyrus’ bones were darker, not by a lot but it would still be noticeable if she stood next to them. _Though,_ he hummed in amusement, _I didn’t think I’d find a skeleton who was as short as Sans._ While Papyrus was at a normal height for a skeleton monster, Sans was most definitely not, being a full two feet shorter than his younger brother. It was difficult to tell since Sans was always slouching but he might just be a little taller than her. The only thing he could tell was off about her was the fact she was not censoring her feeling, but Toriel had already told him that she didn’t seem to know how to do that.

All in all, Ivory looked like a normal healthy monster.

Holding out a hand, he gave her a warm smile.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Ivory.”

 

* * *

 

Papyrus huffed, marching once more into Grillby’s to retrieve his wayward brother, red scarf whipping behind him. Honestly, Papyrus was beginning to wonder if Sans was planning to move into the place with the amount of time he was spending here. Papyrus groaned as he found Sans at his usual spot, apparently heckling that drunk bunny on one side while holding a conversation with Jimmy Hotpants and Nacarat Jester on the side, while eating.

“BROTHER!”

Sans waved, grin widening with genuineness. “what’s up, bro?”

“THIS IS THE FOURTH TIME THIS WEEK YOU’VE BEEN HERE!”

“eating?”

“In your brother’s defense Sansy, today is Tuesday.” The red demon-like monster said, Jimmy nodding in agreement.

“SANS, YOU BUM! YOU COULD BE EATING AT HOME INSTEAD OF HERE! NO OFFENSE GRILLBY.” The fire monster shrugged, having obviously gotten used to him fetching Sans from his place.

“I’ll _fry_ to be better about eating at home and be less of a _bun_.” The older skeleton replied, grinning in delight as he groaned loudly at the horrid puns.

 Papyrus acted like he didn’t like it, but he was actually happy to see Sans making puns again. three months back his brother had gone an entire month without a single pun and frankly it had scared Papyrus, and even after that he didn’t pun or joke as much as he used to.

Sans had been acting odd for these last few months, and while Papyrus hadn’t pointed it out due to not wanting his brother to feel distressed, he had also hoped that giving his brother the space and time to work though his problems would allow Sans to open up about the reason behind the abnormal conduct, but so far Sans hadn’t even tried to say anything… if he was even aware that Papyrus had noticed, which Papyrus was beginning to suspect that his older brother was in fact not aware of his own peculiar shift in behavior.

The taller skeleton readjusted his vest, Sans eye lights trained on the article of clothing. _He had been doing that a lot too_ , Papyrus noted. Sans seemed to have developed a weird fascination with his outfits, as though he was perpetually surprised to see him wearing them.

“alright, let me finish the burg.” The shorter skeleton replied, taking a swig of ketchup much to the younger skeleton’s disgust.

Papyrus shook his head as he leaned on the counter, sharing a look with the place’s proprietor. The two had an unspoken agreement to keep a watch on Sans, grateful to see that even when he wasn’t around there was someone looking out for Sans.

Grillby had once served as part of the Royal Guard back in the day before retiring and setting up in Snowdin, and if rumors were true, he was as old as the King and had fought in the War. He was a fixture of Snowdin that never seemed to change, and he often had cared for him when he was a babybones while Sans was out doing his jobs. Papyrus may think that he ran a grease hole, but he always respected the elder monster and knew Sans was in safe hands.

“Something up, Grillby?” Jimmy said, voice rough.

The elemental shrugged, cleaning a glass. He did seem distracted, and even if Papyrus hadn’t known Grillby, he would have noticed the old elemental seemed out of sorts.

Head crackling as he shook it, the elemental spoke. “Not me, my daughter. She made me a painting for her art project, but… well, give me a moment.”

The fire monster stopped cleaning, leaving for the back room. After a few minutes he came back holding a medium size frame. Gently he placed it down for them to see. Nacarat whistled as the drunk bunny made awe noises, other people who frequent the place coming over, looking on in awe or confusion. Papryus was one of the confused. It was a city in the distance, but the back ground was a cascading color of blue, yellow and pink with a massive sphere in the distance that that seemed to exude light… and Papyrus couldn’t place why but it felt like he had seen this before but for the life of him he couldn’t place where. It was beautiful…but he felt like he had actually been there. _It is the sun,_ Papyrus thought, though he didn’t know how he knew that.

“Two months ago, Fuku had this dream that the monsters were free and that she and I got to finally see the sun. She said it had been so realistic she had to make it. She finally finished it and sent it to me as a present. I have to admit, it does look like the sun… uncannily so.”

Papyrus continued to study the painting as others complemented the painting, some stating that she had a great imagination.

~~No one was paying attention to Sans, whose grin had turned brittle as he stared in shock at the painting.~~

“She just _*hic*_ dreamed that? Wow… it kinda looks like a dream I had…” That drunk bunny slurred. “We got to the surface, thanks to a li _*hic*_ little human saving us. They wore a blue shirt with a purple stripe, becomin’ our amba-ambas-emissary. We were all so _happy_. I even swore to stay sober!” She giggled, everyone laughing at that.

Jimmy hummed, sitting back. “Blue shirt with a purple stripe? I had a dream about someone like that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah! It was weird. This person went through the Underground and killed the Captain, the Royal Scientist, Mettaton, and King Asgore. Papyrus was the last guy with any authority and was named king because of it. He kept feeding us spaghetti, and it wasn’t really so bad. He kept our hope up and was actually a pretty good ruler.”

Papyrus felt a blush bloom upon his skull. That was a weird thing to dream, but he was still flattered. Though he didn’t want to be king if it meant his friends had to all die first.

~~Unbeknownst to all, Sans was shaking.~~

Nacarat looked up at the wolf monster, her slit-and-cross like eyes widening. “Really? I had this weird dream too, but it was scary! Well, it wasn't really a dream, I was awake and everything when I experienced it. But this thing wearing a shirt like that came through the Underground slaughtering everyone that got in its path, but a lot of us survived thanks to the Royal Scientist evacuating us to a safe place. It was a creepy place, but it kept us safe from the thing that was going on a killing spree. We were so grateful we made her the new ruler. It felt so real that when I snapped out of it I stayed under my bed until Scarfy came and found me.”

Suddenly magic crackled through the air, all conversation dying abruptly.

“ ** _what_**.”

Sans sat rigid in his seat, the contents of the ketchup bottle all over his hand and the counter from the death grip he had on it. Papyrus watched as the lights blipped out of his brother’s sockets, his smile stretching to a painful length. It was so sudden that he and the others actually back up a little. “B-BROTHER? SANS?”

As suddenly as it appeared the “smile” was gone. Sans stood up so fast he knocked the bar chair over, drawing everyone’s attention. The older skeleton took a deep breath before addressing him. “sorry. just realized I gotta do something. later.”

And before he could say anything Sans shortcutted out, leaving him confused and worried.

“What’s gotten into him?” Nacarat asked, she and the others all looking disturbed by the face Sans made.

_I don’t know, and that concerns me._

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flowey is glitching, Gerson is introduced to Ivory, and Sans just found out that people aren't just experiencing deja vu's anymore.
> 
> Next up: Ivory gets a soul physical and has to not respond to Chara's commentary while doing it.


	17. Reality: Resolutions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333.  
> Inspired by Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise.
> 
> If you haven't read their works, go and do it. They are incredible!

* * *

 

 

Mandy was always a bit of a bright person, her brother had even jokingly said she was Pollyanna reborn (the sweet dork), because she tended to see the better side of people.

Mandy was a firm believer that everyone can be a good person if they only had a chance. Even people who others don’t believe should have them, like her late ex-husband. In the beginning of their marriage he was a good man, but somewhere along the way he had become a… a abusive man.

She had thought she could wait it out, keep caring for him and he’d go back to being the man she had loved. But after several years of this, she realized that they needed to be apart for any healing to happen and told him such. He hadn’t been happy, got aggressive about it and while that had frightened her and made her run away, she felt that it could still worked out. She met Tammy, who got her to her brother, who helped her with the divorce. Her ex… he lost his temper, and she had been caught in the ensuing fit. She had gotten hurt ~~almost killed~~ and her brother got her a lawyer and pressed charges. The day the divorce was finalized, Mandy had request to see him one last time before he was sent to prison for assault. He had told her he was sorry and that he would try to be a better man, and she believed in him. She hoped he would one day become the good man he once was. But sadly, he was killed, a day into his parole when a burglar broke into his home and killed him.

She knew now that you couldn’t save everyone, but she wanted to try. As much as her ex had been a bad man, she had seen him be a good man once.

Ever since the divorce, Mandy had been going to a therapist. Mandy liked her therapist. The Doctor had been recommended by her brother, back during the divorce. Doctor Halman had been wonderful, helping her through that trying time. It had taken time, but Mandy had finally accepted that her failed marriage had not been ~~entirely~~ her fault, that she had done everything she could to save her marriage, that her marriage (while having started out good) had been toxic.

This led to her being part of a movement to aide people who had been in abusive relationships, to help others who were like how she once was. She wanted to help people work out their relationship or if it was just too damaging, help them out of such toxic relationship.

The therapy session had finished up a while ago and she was already on her way home. The session while good, had brushed up on her more recent issues.

Mainly her homelife and the changes it had taken.

Mandy sighed a little, countenance dimming. While Ivory wasn’t a close friend of hers, Mandy was still very fond of the quiet woman and it had been frightening that she had disappeared with no trace at all. Her disappearance had affected everyone at home differently, some worse than others. Mandy worried about the fate of her friend, but Mandy was determined to keep everyone ‘s spirits up. She had a moderate amount of success. The least anxious by it was Tammy, who had said she grew up in a bad neighborhood where disappearances did happen a lot. That said, Tammy had tag teamed with her to keep Ivan from doing anything dangerous or Mia from burning out on her two jobs.

Since Ivory’s disappearance life hasn’t been the same. Mia’s girlfriend of nearly two years broke up with her, and coupled with her despair over Ivory still missing Mia had gotten a second job, entirely out of need to be doing something that left her too physically exhausted to think. Mandy had been about ready to force her to take a breather, but Tammy intervened explaining that Mia dealing with her hurt and loss in her way and if it did start to negatively affect her then they would step in.

Mandy allowed it but kept an eye on her younger friend with a promise she’d be there if Mia had another meltdown. Mia may have been able to persevere through many things, but that didn’t mean she had to do it alone.

But if Mia worried her, then Ivan made her want to wrap him up in a fluffy blanket and promise him everything was all right.

Ivan was a young man from the country and before moving in with them had never been in the city for long periods of time. He wasn’t used to how rude people could get, nor how little everyone cared that a fully-grown woman could just up and disappear without a trace. He had finally stopped asking them every question he could think of about Ivory’s disappearance and only stopped because Tammy pulled him off to the side and had in very blunt terms told him they knew nothing and that if he kept asking, she would have him packed and sent home before he could blink. While he had stopped, it didn’t mean he stopped looking. With the way he was going about though she worried he would stumble into a drug meeting or something and get killed. The boy had a strong sense of justice and integrity, probably from growing up in a small community and while Mandy saw those as good traits, Ivan was blinded by the loss of his sister which made those traits dangerous if he saw something he found morally wrong.

Tammy had been good at handling him, so Mandy had left him in her old friends care with the hopes the young man would realize he needed to be more tactful about how he handled it.

 _Speaking of Tammy, she has been out of sorts lately,_ Mandy thought as she prepared dinner.

It wasn’t obvious, and Tammy kept saying it was nothing, but Mandy liked to think she and Tammy were close friends. She had known the woman for six years and they have been living together during that time, having new roommates throughout it until Ivory and Mia came along. The two of them had gone through a great deal of hardships together, and she liked to think you don’t go through half of the things they did together and not come out as at least acquaintances. Tammy may have been rough and too blunt at times, but Mandy was certain she had never met a kinder person outside of her own family.

Something was bothering Tammy and her friend was being evasive about it. Mandy knew better than to push her for answers. Tammy would tell her on her own terms.

 _All this stress and worry, and on New Year’s Eve too!_ She thought sadly. The sadness was pushed away as a look of determination appeared on her face.

Mandy would do what she could to keep everyone’s hopes alive. She just needed to stay strong, stay brave for everyone in these scary times.

 _Please,_ she thought making her new year resolutions in the afternoon light. _Let us all be safe and happy. Tammy, Mia, Ivan… Ivory._

 

* * *

 

Mia trudged home, exhausted. Absently she pulled her hair out of the bun, strands catching on the bobbies. She probably looked like a zombie and felt like one too.

It may have looked like she was completely out of it, but ever since Ivory’s disappearance she had taken precautions when walking home, the taser Ivan got her heavy in her pocket.

The large country boy had gone and gotten Mandy a bottle of pepper spray seeing how Mandy hated tasers and had given Tammy a pair of brass knuckles instead of a taser or mace, since she apparently owned six tasers and thought spraying pepper or mace into people’s eyes was for wussies.

She chuckled, thinking about how to thank the well meaning guy. He was so different from Ivory, both in looks and personality. How did two vastly different people come from the same family?

Ivory was thoughtful and enduring, while Ivan was righteousness and honesty, and their parents were just as good-hearted as their children. She loved it when they invited her over for the holidays.

This Christmas was not really awkward, but it did feel as though there was a hole. As for the last few years, she had gone to Ivory’s family for Christmas. Ivan and his parents were determined to keep things light despite the fact Ivory’s chair at the table was empty. Ivan’s mom, Nora, had tried to put the chair away, but burst into tears so they left it there. Ivory’s dad, Irwin, comforted his wife before they all sat at the dinner table, the two men in the family distracting Nora to the best of their abilities. Mia helped in any way she could, helping with the dishes and engaging Nora in conversations about any topic she could think off. Nora wasn’t stupid, Mia was pretty certain she knew exactly what the three of them were doing but didn’t comment on it.

All in all it wasn’t bad… though Irwin and Nora had told both Ivan and her that if they wanted to move into the area that they had friends who were renting, not very subtlety requesting their son to return home, and asking her to move there.

It warmed her heart, hearing them plainly asking her to please consider moving int the community. She couldn’t stop herself from asking Irwin why he and Nora encouraged her to move there. He looked her in the eye and said,

“I ask you to consider because you are family. Because I’m utterly terrified I’ll get another call telling me Ivan or you have disappeared as well. Because while I pray she will come back, Ivory is still missing… and I don’t think I could survive loosing another daughter.”

It was heartwarming as it was sobering.

And it was tempting.

Mia had come from a blue-collar family. She had been an only child, and her parents had more or less decided her entire future. They wanted the perfect daughter, a pretty doll who did what she was told, didn’t argue back and didn’t think for herself. Any time she rebelled against their wishes, they made her regret it. They never abused her, never raised a hand against her, but they made it clear that what few hobbies she had growing up were taken away, that she would be isolated from everyone and everything until she bent to their will.

She didn’t want to take ballet classes? She was no longer allowed to have a dog. ~~She got around this by giving him away to a good family that allowed her to visit.~~

She cussed out her private tutors because they were assholes? Lock her up in her room until her manners improved. ~~She risked breaking her neck by going out her bedroom window, but she thought it was worth it.~~

One of her father’s business partner’s groped her? She should get used to it since she was a beautiful girl, and if she played her cards right, she could become a very nice trophy wife. ~~She had been so sickened by her parents’ words she threw up, getting her dismissed from the party.~~

She had a lot of guy friends? Send her to an all-girl private school. ~~Jokes on them, she was a lesbian.~~

For nineteen years this was her life, until she met Ivory. Ivory was everything she wasn’t and what her parents hated and while she hadn’t known it then, Ivory would become one of Mia’s closest and dearest friends, who Mia would walk bare foot into hell for.

Quiet yet dependable Ivory had stood next to her when she until told her parents her preference, who stood between her screaming parents and her, who did not allow her parents near her ask she screamed back, who stared insolently at them as they threatened Mia and her, who with glacial calmness pulled out a folder and recorder that had just recorded their entire screaming match that included death threats at her and Ivory as well as a folder full of evidence of neglect and child abuse… and Mia could only watch in awe as Ivory calmly, carefully and politely informed her parents that if they tried anything that she had the means to destroy them socially and legally.

The looks of terror on their faces as she stated that they could keep that folder because she had copies and if something were to happen to either of them those copies would go to the police was something Mia would treasure forever.

It was what happened after that, once they left that made Mia want to stay by her friend forever.

As soon as they were back in Ivory’s car, the older woman sagged forward, letting out a terrified sounding noise, cool mask crumbling as she gibbered that she couldn’t believe that had actually worked. It was then that Ivory confessed to finding all that because she had hired one of Mia’s nicer former tutor’s (she remembered him because he got fired when he found out about how her parents treated her), and then Ivory had gone around and quietly collected further evidence. But she had lied about knowing people who could get them in trouble and had been utterly terrified when her parents threatened them.

Mia had demanded then why she took such risks (she still didn’t want to think what her parents would do if they had ever realized Ivory’s trick), to which Ivory simply stated that they hurt Mia and no amount if fear was going to stop Ivory from protecting her friend.

Mia had laughed at that, laughed at the fact Ivory had freed her from her parents through a unique blend of truth, lies and trickery.

Mia in that moment felt like lost soul who was just saved by angel, that she found a friend, a sister.

 ~~And in the depths of her soul, never to see light of day or ever be consciously acknowledged, Mia viewed Ivory as her soulmate~~.

After that she had a day to clear out her things, not that she had a whole lot to her name and moved immediately in with Ivory. They had been together since then, and between Ivory and her sweet family, Mia felt as though she found her place in the world.

 _And now I feel out of place without her,_ Mia thought, hands balling up into fists.

There was a part if her that wanted to move to Ivory and Ivan’s town, or get as far as physically far from this damn city as possible.

But she couldn’t, not yet.

Like Ivan, Mia was trying to find her lost friend. She wasn’t leaving till she exhausted all possibilities, all routes, all options.

Looking to the darkening sky, she made a quiet resolution for the new year.

“I will find you, and bring you back home.”

 

* * *

 

 

Tammy had left from work early, citing she had an early shift from her other job. She had done her work, went out shopping for alcohol, intended to drink till she couldn't see straight then go and try and sleep.

The emphasis being ‘try’.

She had felt the tickle in her throat and had left before it developed into another coughing fit.

She had barely gotten outside when she started coughing, a long, chunky and wet sound.

After finally getting herself under control she picked up her bags and continued, lighting a cigarette.

The doctor flat out told her to stop smoking, but he and several others had diagnosed her to be in the terminal stage of her cancer so what was the point in stopping now?

Small-cell carcinoma, an aggressive kind of lung cancer. She had only found out two weeks ago after she had a violent coughing fit that left her dizzy and Mandy had insisted she go for a checkup.

Helluva thing to find out that you have roughly seventeen weeks to live (and that was her most optimistic doctor’s estimation). They had given her some bull crap about how there was a small chance to increase her odds to live a few extra years, but she had just left at that point.

Tammy was going to die at forty-nine years of age and trying to spend the last few weeks of her life futilely trying to make more time was not something she was going to do.

She needed to update her will, tell Mandy and her prick of a brother Charlie soon. Mandy so this doesn’t catch her unawares and that prick to make sure Mandy doesn’t spiral down into despair.

She liked Mandy, kinda saw her like a daughter, but that optimistic hippy’s emotion swung to extremes, meaning she was one hundred percent happy or one hundred percent miserable. The woman was also far too forgiving, Tammy remembered that shit stain of an ex Mandy had. Mandy was a brave and happy soul, but her character judgment was atrocious.

The fact Mandy saw her as a friend was just further proof as far as Tammy was concerned.

And there were also the kids to consider…

Ivan and Mia were young, like she was fairly certain they were barely in their twenties young.

Ivan was built like a frickin’ bull moose and had the disposition of a German Shephard. He wasn’t dumb, but boy was he naive at times. He had a need to do the right thing, even getting upset when he couldn’t (she still remembered when he tried to take on a bunch of guys who was harassing a young woman, and how she had to save his dumb ass by pulling out her Glock. No matter how strong you are, most men will run for it when they see a firearms being directed at them). A strong sense of morals on that one, he’ll do fine as long as he had Mia or someone to keep him grounded around.

Speaking of Mia, that girl was having the rottenest of luck. First Ivory disappears, then her girlfriend dumps her, she is trying to keep Ivan from hunting every dumb criminal on his radar. They didn’t live in a bad place, far from it, but it was a big city and crime was much more common in larger cities.

It was a palace compared to the shithole she grew up in.

But back to Mia, the girl needed to get out of the city. She had noticed that Ivan and her were happier since visiting his parents. She was going to not-so-gently encourage them to move back there. To get away from this place that made Ivan twitchy, Mia miserable…

And reminded both of them what they had lost.

Ivory had been a pretty stable person, weird game/book bouts aside. Tammy hoped wherever she was, that she was safe, even though the cynic in her said that it was more likely the girl was dead in a dumpster somewhere... and that felt like it would be the best case scenario.

Even if she was still alive, Ivory would probably not be the same. Tammy would bet her death sticks that if Ivory still lived that she had underwent something traumatic that had transformed her, and was probably being held somewhere that she couldn’t escape.

Tammy shook her head, ash falling. She had too much to think about, and she was currently on a timer. She’d tell everyone next week. For now they needed cheer.

 _And liquor cheers me up all the time,_ Tammy thought hefting the bag full of alcohol up higher.

She stopped only long enough to light another cigarette, staring up at the darkened sky of New Years Eve. The time to make resolution, something she always found stupid. And yet in the coolness of a darkening sky she found herself whispering,

"I will live these last few months of my life with no regret."

 

* * *

 

Anyone at the gym would have given the back area plenty of space, namely the place where the punching bags were.

This was mostly due to the enormous muscled young man who was currently taking a lot of aggression out on the poor punching bag.

Ivan was normally a pretty chill guy, slow to anger and tried to be open and rational.

But right now he was upset and needed to vent, and since there was no manual labor for him to  do he had settled for the gym.

It was New Year’s Eve. In seven hours, it was going to be a new year.

It was irrational, he knew but he didn’t want to even entertain the idea of greeting this new year without Ivory. Every year at midnight, Ivory had woken him up, telling him it was a new year for adventures and that she would be dragging him on one. And Ivory always kept her promises, even if the adventures were silly. Even when she left, she still called with a promise to go on an adventure with him.

**~~ The knowledge that he was about to go into this new year without a promise of a new adventure (without her to greet him) filled him with **anguish.** ~~ **

An emptiness that had been there for almost a year yawned wide open inside him, his feelings momentarily numbing. With a snarl he punched the bag, sending the bag careening off of the hook, his knuckles throbbing.

“Hey, um, buddy? I-I need you stop breaking our stuff and to leave…please?” came a timid voice.

Looking towards the front, Ivan was greeted by the sight of a young petite woman. She had a very frightened look on her face and appeared to be about ready to make a run for it.

Ivan felt his rage die, replaced with shame. After that show of rage, the poor woman probably thought he was going to attack her! He quickly grabbed the bag and tried to put it back only to discover he broke the hook.

A stammered apology and handing her money to fix it, he once more apologize for scaring her and wished her a good year before exiting.

The evening air was crisp, people already starting to drink and party. He quietly made his way back to the apartment, mentally cajoling himself to put on a happier face.

He… he hadn’t been himself lately. In the last year he felt… numb. Like he was becoming dead inside. It had been so slow he hadn’t even been aware till Ivory disappeared that he began to realize that his emotions felt… stagnated. Like he was missing something.

 _Enough of that,_ a voice that sounded like Ivory _, instead, how about you think if what you are going to tell the girls about how you damaged your knuckles?_

Is if on que, his hand throbbed, forcing him to look at it. Purple bruising were appearing as it swelled.

The girls are going to be so mad.

Mandy was a nice lady, who had a heart of gold and adored her brother and nephews. He didn’t know much about her, other then she got out of a abusive relationship and was extremely supportive of aiding those who can’t fight back, or something.

Tammy reminded him of his Nana before she passed away; sullen, cantankerous, not afraid to speak her mind yet still a good person. He didn’t know anything about her, and she seemed to prefer it that way. She was also the one to tell him to get his emotions out by going to the gym, stating that bottling it up was the worst thing he could do with it. Turned out she was right about that, he certainly felt calmer.

Mia though…

Mia was family.

Only a couple years older then him, yet he felt like the big brother (both physically and mentally). He knew she came from a family that was only family in the looses sense of the word, and that she had struggled for some time after to no longer answering to them, as well as undoing years of psychological manipulation and trauma they heaped upon her.

He still recalled the first time he met her, during a Christmas. She had been scared, wondering if she should really be there at all. Mom and Pop’s went out of their way to make her feel welcomed, Ivory staying close by till she relaxed a bit.

Eventually, over time he discovered that he had a baby sister (Mia hated it when he called her that, Ivory laughing so hard she got the hiccups), who just so happened to live with his older sister.

And Ivory—

Ivory—

He stopped, sucking in as much air as he could.

 _She isn’t gone. She can’t be. She just can’t make it home right now._ He thought, trembling as a sob broke out.

“Ivan?”

He whipped around hand rubbing his eyes furiously. Once done he gave a big smile. “Sorry, dust in my eye.”

Standing not far from him with bags in her hands and a cigarette clenched between her yellow teeth was Tammy, giving him a look that clearly states she didn’t believe him for a second. But Tammy wasn’t cruel and didn’t comment on his too bright eyes, instead holding out a bag.

“None of us want to go out, but I’ll be damned if we ain’t gettin’ drunk tonight.”

As he reached for the bag, her hand shot out snatching his own. Her hands looked frail in comparison to his, thin and bony. A frown marring her lined face.

“When we get back, I’ll help ya wrap it. Next time wear the damn boxer gloves, dumbass.”

He just smiled. “Thanks, Tam.”

The two walked in comfortable silence, Ivan looking up at the dark sky where only a few stars could be seen.

 _This has been a terrible year, he_ thought. Then straightening his shoulders he made his resolution. _One way or another, my family will be together again_.

The yawning emptiness in his chest was back, so he trudged on, determined to keep his word.

_Ivory…stay safe._

 

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo... this will be the last chapter for this year. Sorry it is late, I spent most of yesterday hung over from a Christmas party.
> 
> I know it is a somber chapter and might seem out of place, but I promise these people are important for later.
> 
> A huge thanks to all of you who have read this. When I started this back in May I had figured I would loose interest and maybe update it every couple of months, but every time I got a review or kudos made me want to stick with this story. So thank you for keeping me inspired. I hope your holidays were great, and that New Years brings about a better year.
> 
> Thanks again for reading and have a great day!


	18. The Check Up pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333.  
> Inspired by Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise.  
> I want to do a shout out for Kamari333 and Tyrant_Tortoise, both of who have written incredible works that inspired me. If you have not read their work, go now. You are missing out!

 

* * *

 

Finding out that you could literally feel the magic hum in your bones when you were close to a nervous meltdown was something you really wished you had known at the beginning, because it felt similar to the time you had stolen money from your Mom and she found out; gut rolling (despite not having a gut), and feeling like you were one well placed comment away from retching all over the floor.

The only thing keeping you upright was sheer spite towards the floating devil spawn who was getting a real kick from your misery, and since you were currently being watched by Tori and Gerson you couldn’t respond or even acknowledge the snide remarks the cherub-face fiend was throwing at you.

After introductions Toriel had directed you and Gerson to the table then ducked back into the kitchen to make more tea, leaving the two (three if you want to be technical) of you alone.

Gerson was a little taller than you, and even hunched over and smiling like an elderly grandparent you could see the questions behind his eyes. Clearly, he wanted to ask you all sorts of personal questions but was refraining from it.

Taken a too deep breath, you looked him in the eye as you spoke. “Yes, I am from the surface. No, I don’t want to talk about it. Please do not ask about my family.”

Gerson chuckled. “Toriel already told me not to ask, and I respect her too much to disregard her request, even if my curiosity is demanding answers. But… if you could indulge an old monster, can you tell me if the stars are still beautiful?”

You relaxed a little, feeling a well of sympathy towards the ancient being. “It is practically impossible to see them in a city, but if you get out into the countryside, you can see them, unending and enchanting. But you know what I miss the most? The sunrise. I miss the rays of warms, the light of day as it breaks passed the… the mountains, especially when its foggy out. I miss seeing daylight.”

A melancholy feeling takes you, and you nearly jump when a massive scaly hand covers yours. Gerson looked down at you with understanding. Taking out a handkerchief he gently dabbed the tears that had build in your sockets ~~how am I crying?~~ as he smiled gently at you. “Its alright, my dear. I should have known better then to ask.”

You shook your head, looking at him sternly. “No, you only asked about the stars. Not your fault I got all teary eyed, um, socket.”

Toriel walked in at that moment and stopped at seeing the scene before her. Red eyes glared at Gerson who held his hands up in a pacifying manner. Before she could truly entire Mother Mode, you decided to save the poor tortoise-type monster her tongue lashing.

“Its fine, Tori. Just remembering.” Seeing the disbelieving look, you just smiled. “Besides, after he gets a look at my soul, I may have to apologize to _him_.”

The tortoise hummed, looking thoughtful. “Under normal circumstances, I only pull a soul if I have to. Is it really that bad?”

Toriel coughed, a nervous look on her features. “It certainly is… indescribable.”

**Oh, wow. Your soul is on the same level as Papyrus’ cooking.**

You aborted a hand gesture, though by the looks Gerson and Toriel shot you they felt your irritation.

“Let’s- let’s just get this over with. Just go ahead and pull the damn thing out.” You grounded the words out, before feeling bad for snapping. Toriel and Gerson were trying to help, it wasn’t their fault Chara was a little shit.

Both Toriel and Gerson looked uncomfortable at your words, and even Chara had stopped what they were doing to gape at you.

“Are you certain? I was going to check your stats before we tried… that.” Gerson spoke, looking uncomfortable.

“Um, yeah? I figured you’d be seeing it, since you’re a doctor and all.”

“I just didn’t expect you to be so…cavalier about it.”

“Well, yeah? I’m sure its nothing you’ve haven’t done before, just be gentle with me, please?”

Gerson choked, Toriel looking at you in horror.

 _Am I missing something?_ you thought, shrugging in a way that allowed you to look at Chara, flashing a questioning look.

Chara shocked expression melted to a massive shit-eating grin. **Showing your soul is kinda intimate… now think on what you just said to him.**

_What I just- oh. OH. OOOOOOOO **OOOOOOH**. ~~INTERNAL SCREAMING.~~_

You were pretty certain now that your entire skull had just turned a bright copper, because Gerson started laughing. “I DIDN’T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!”

The ancient monster wheezed another laughter, fist pounding on the table. “Just realized what you did there, huh? I’m flattered, but I like to keep things professional with my patients.”

“Gerson!” Toriel hissed, smacking him on the shoulder, though you could see amusement in her eyes.

He continued to guffaw, Chara laughing themselves through the wall as Toriel patting you on the shoulder. You barely noticed any of this as you were too busy smacking your head into the table.

“Can we- pretend I just didn’t accidentally proposition you? Please?” You begged, still deeply flushed.

It took a few minutes, but soon enough Gerson’s laughter petered out, face stern but eyes light with amusement.

“Let’s try that again. Are you certain you want me to pull it out?”

No. You didn’t… but you had a feeling it needed to come out sooner rather than later. _Just-just think of it as getting a pap smear. This is just a physical, only on a soul level. As long as he doesn’t bring out the ducky, I’ll be fine. I hope._

You nodded, hoping you felt more confident than you were.

Toriel smiled encouragingly to you, as Gerson once more inquired if you were ready.

You weren’t, not even close. You wanted to barricade yourself in your room and not come back out… but with a too deep breath you gave a shaky nod, bracing yourself.

After a moment of stillness, you felt your soul exit your body, an unnerving emptiness filling you. Much like the first time you saw it, it was still beating like a real heart, colors swirling as the air around you felt like it was pulsing in time with the beat.

You dared to look at Gerson and Toriel.

Toriel looked much like how she looked the first time you asked her to pull it out, uncomfortable and ready to take a long shower.

Gerson on the other hand looked as though he was just introduced to the Grim Reaper, who then proceeded to hit on him and asked for his phone number.

Seeing those expressions directed on you made you look down to avoid it. Unfortunately, this led to you looking right at the source of disquiet itself.

God, if it wasn’t for the colors it would look like a real—

Suddenly words swam in from of you.

**Ivory** **Ostein**

**LV: ~~1~~**

**HP: 2̶̳̮̒**

**AT: 0̷̢̛̥̯̝̓̄̏̔̇͝.̵̛̹̤̝̣̀̃͆̈́̒̎͛́͜͝1̶̢̲̩̱̲̭̥̪̂͂͒̓̀̓̅̓̕͝͝͠͠0̵̨̨̫̗̘͖̠̯̹̜̲̫̔̀̈̈͜**

**DF: 3̸̲̥̘̫͛**

**T̷̘̜̝̺͓͕͖̬̒̈́ͅH̶̝̠̼̙̋̅̆̆̇͝Ȋ̷͇͇͙̩͐ͅs̷̡͇͍̮͍͆̔͛̏͑ ̵͍̠̦͎͓̮͉̭̒̊́** ḧ̴̢̛͈̗͕̪́̿̉͒̍Ṳ̶̬̗͋͝ **M̶̧͉̙̩̣͕̖̑̄̀͜͜a̶̜̭̦̺̳̻̙̪͂̅͗͜ń̷̹̫̖͔ ̷͚̦͓̲͍̄̍͂i̶̛̟͌̈́̊̋̊̄̕ș̸̨̘̏̓̐̎̒͌ ̸͖̟̰̯̊̑͒̑͝** a̸̪̞̘͍̹̎̿̂͌̌̈́͛̕͘ ̴̦̿͂̽̽ **l̶͖͔̃͆̈́͘͘Ǒ̴͚̣͍̾͋̑** N̵̖̅̅̔̄̈͝ **g̷̢̧̖̖̩̼̭͋̊ ̵̛̭̮̒̎̊w̵͔̆̂̊̃̆̋ā̶̡̫͎͚̝̱y̶̤͂̀̉̀͝͝s̷̹̩͌̏̐̃͋͘ ̷̧̳̯͇̤̪̘̠̫͊f̴̨̢̨̧̬̦̹͕͔̅͑͌̓͋̈̂̚r̷̻̟͚̔̎͆̓̈́Ộ̵̡͔͎̰͈͜M̸̰̣̯͉̼̰̃̆́̓̾̃̿̾̑ ̴͚̠̙͑͊͗̕͜ͅ** ḩ̸͕͉̤̬́͑̃̅̔͌̏͜͠͝ͅô̶̞͂̉͋̈́̽̉m̴̯̥̖̙̻̙̜͚̃͋̃̏̐̚̕͝͠e̴̢̢͙̯͔̮̠̔̑̓̑̀̅̆͜͜͠

 

For a moment you stared at the words, incomprehensibly. Than you spoke the words you were feeling, as eloquently as possibly.

“WHAT _. THE_. **_HELL_**.”

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, its short. But it is posted! Yays!
> 
> Hope everyone had a good New Years Eve, and that all the resolutions you make get fulfilled!


	19. The Check Up pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333.  
> Inspired by Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise.  
> I want to do a shout out for Kamari333 and Tyrant_Tortoise, both of who have written incredible works that inspired me. If you have not read their work, go now. You are missing out!

* * *

 

The tortoise monster had shoved that soul back into Ivory so fast Toriel hadn’t had time to finish buffering her courage to check on Ivory’s stats, leaving her confused. Both Ivory’s and Gerson’s reactions were worrying, and for the life of her Toriel didn’t know why.

“My q- my friend, did you see…?” Gerson started looking up to her with a abnormally blank expression, his emotions deliberately calm.

“I didn’t get the chance to check her stats. I… I was adjusting to the soul’s… presence.” The goat monster replied, wincing at the still fresh sensation of Ivory’s soul.

“Ah. I see.” Gerson replied, looking back at Ivory… whose eye lights had vanished.

Toriel moved to comfort the young monster when Gerson stopped her. “Give her a minute. She’s fine, just shocked, I think. Do you mind waiting outside or downstairs for a bit? I wish to ask Ivory some more personal questions and as a healer I have sworn to ensure my patients have privacy.”

Toriel hesitated but looked back at the younger monster. Ivory had regained her eye lights, though a shroud of apprehension surrounded her now. “Is that all right…?”

Confusion trickled through the air but the skeleton nodded, though she was giving Gerson a concerned look.

Toriel looked between them once more before heading down the stairs, wondering what exactly they had seen.

 _Gerson has his reasons. I’m sure it will be alright. Ivory is in good hands_.

 

* * *

 

You realized the error of allowing Gerson to send Tori away about two minutes after she had descended the stairs.

The second the ancient tortoise was certain Tori was gone the world around you bled to black and white, and you were suddenly slammed into the wall and pinned there by a massive hammer.

The friendly face he had sported since entering the room was gone, a narrow-eyed scowl in place as he stood in front of your pinned form.

In a still voice he spoke, face deliberately calm. “I am only going to ask these questions once, so listen; _what_ are you, _how_ did you get here and what is your intention, _creature_?”

“W-what?” you squeaked, only to suddenly feel pressure from the hammer. Chara was next to you, smile gone as they yelled, **NINETY PERCENT TRUTHS! HE'S CHECKING FOR LIES!**

For a moment your mind stalled before the wheels started spinning without traction in its panic, Chara shaking next to you. **You needed to tell him a technical truth!**

 ~~In the back of your mind, you see the ACT button. You hit it~~.

Wheezing you spoke, focusing on Gerson’s terrifyingly tranquil visage.

“I-Ivory, I fell, I just want to live in peace!”

“You didn’t answer my first question.” Gerson said in a soft tone, pressure increasing.

“I did!” You wheezed.

“Your _name_ isn’t _what_ you are.”

You felt a tendril of rage at his soft-spoken words. You clung to that rage, encouraging it to grow.

~~You hit the ACT button again, the fear bubbling up inside you.~~

“Like hell it isn’t! It’s part of my identity, it is who I am!”

“Be that it may, you look like a monster, but that check tells me you are human. Combined with that _thing_ you call a soul, I have no idea what you are. And while you may want to live in peace _now_ , that can be achieved in short term, while it leaves me not knowing of your long-term plans… and frankly, with that soul you have I don’t know if I should allow you to continue living.” He said plainly, as though he was simply discussing his wares and not murder.

_He’s going to kill me!_

Chara was next to you, talking urgently. **He doesn’t want to hurt you! He wants you to show him you’re not a danger to Mo- to everyone! Keep it up, he’s almost convinced!**

 _Technical truths,_ your mind screamed as you felt as though he was about to crush your ribcage.

~~You hit the ACT button again, praying it works. Your eye sockets start to shine copper as tears well up in them.~~

“Then that makes two of us! I don’t know why my soul resembles a human heart. I don’t know how exactly I got into the Underground! What I do know is that I am trapped in a world full of monsters who I thought were _make believe_ , I am _scared_ out of my mind on a regular basis, so much in fact that the mere idea of leaving the Ruins has given me an anxiety attack! I just want to _live_! I want to be _SAFE!_ **_I  JUST WANT TO GO HOME!!_** _”_

Anger, frustration, apprehension, and despair swirl inside you like a swarm of locus, consuming everything positive.

You hear a something deep within you snap, and suddenly the hammer was gone, Gerson calm façade melting to sorrow. Chara breathed a deep sigh of relief.

You stood there breathing heavily, tears running down your face, a buzzing sensation filling your head. You just survived your first encounter.

You just survived your first encounter.

The world continued to buzz, static began to encroach on your vision, and you couldn’t breathe.

Y o u    j u s t   s u r v i v e d   y o u r   f i r s t   e n c o u n t e r .

Your rib cage felt like it had the hammer back on it, pressing, squeezing—

You just sUrvIVed yoUr FIrst encoUNTer.

You couldn’t see the room anymore, and the buzzing was so loud now **—**

You jUst suRvI **veD YOuR FIrst** **Eͤᶰnͨcͦoͧᶰuͭnͤtͬer.**

You can’t breathe **—**

**ˢYͨoͣuͬ ͤjͩusͥtͫ ˢsͨuͣrͬvͤiͩvˢeͨdͣ ͬyͤoͩuˢrͨ ͣfͬiͤrͩsᵖtˡ ͤeͣˢnͤcoͩuͦᶰnͭteͪrͧ.ͬ.ͭ.ᵐᵉ**

Can’t breathe **—**

**ᵖYˡoͤuͣˢ ͤalͩmͦᶰoͭstͪ ͧdͬiͭedͫ.ͤ..**

**B̸̞̗̺͙ͤ̈́ͅ ͎̳̔͛Rͮ͋̇̈̈͊ ̍ͫͯͦE̯̰̣̳͆͌̂͗͐̓̚ ̤͔̠ͥA̹̱̯̯̖̍̈́͊ͪ̈́ ̬͈̦͙͇̄ͪ̉Ṯ̗̙̼̪͞ ̪̠̥̠̮͓̘ͤ̾̒̌ͦͣ͞Ḧ͕̙́̒̃ͨ́̐ͅ E͆͌̂͗͐̓ ̤͔̠ͥ—**

 

* * *

 

Her bones had gone from bleached to grey as she collapsed to the ground, making a rattling noise as she seemed to cave in on herself, alarming the others in the room (both living and dead). But what was more alarming was the partially melted bone barrier that seemed to spontaneously sprout from the fallen woman.  

They then watched as the skeleton seemed to completely disengage with her own body, shaking so hard the rattling could be heard in the next room and hardly breathing, and after a moment or two of watching Chara was pretty sure they knew what just happened.

Copper Soul was having a panic attack.

That dumb turtle was freaking out now, screaming for Mom who came running. The two of them were trying to get the misplaced being to respond, breath, anything to get her out of the attack she was suffering, but a half-white, half-copper barrier that looked like a melting pile of bones was keeping them from getting closer.

If it was possible, Chara would have stabbed Gerson for his action. He was supposed to be one of the harmless guys!

Ignoring their more violent desires, the child looked back at the human/monster hybrid. They were the only one who could get near but were also the least qualified to help. But they had to do something!

Chara yanked at their own hair, trying to remember what Azzy and Dad used to do when they had panic attacks during their first year in the Underground.

Embrace? Couldn’t physically touch her.

Pet their hair? Again, can’t touch her and she doesn’t have hair.

Breath or count? Worth a shot.

Chara usually kept a distance with people, a habit that didn’t go away with death. It was easier to avoid altercations if you were already out of the line of fire. Having rarely needed (or cared) to aide with emotional outbursts like these, Chara was not versed in how to correctly help, but the Copper Soul was an ally and Dad always said you should help your allies. The fact Chara had grossly miscalculated Gerson’s ability was on them, not Copper Soul. So with great reluctance they got right in the Copper Soul’s personal bubble.

The human-turned-skeleton was shaking and gasping, eye lights flickering on and off like a light switch, an occasionally burst of magic from the sockets not unlike a firework going off. Magic the color of her soul waft from the sockets and mouth, like a dragon preparing to spit fire.

Chara honestly thought she looked chilling like that.

 **Hey, can you hear me? Come on, buddy, breath. Breath with me. Come on, inhale... like this.** Chara spoke in a gentle manner, breathing in.

For a dreadful moment Chara thought they had failed and was going to leave it to Mom to get through to the mess of a person on the floor, when Copper Soul took in an unsteady breath. Emboldened, Chara instructed the displaced being to breath with them, and was relieved to see that the pain in the coccyx was actually listening to them.

Chara ignored the wave of relief they felt as Copper Soul responded. They seemed to be pretty far away mentally but were just here enough to listen. 

 **Good, good. You are doing so good. Just keep breathing with me, okay pal?** Chara said in a kind tone usually reserved for Azzy when he was being a bigger crybaby than usual, like the time they accidentally dropped a plate on his head and couldn’t find Mom or Dad to help to comfort him, or the time them he cried because he dropped his share of Mom’s pie, or the time when they were on their deathbed— 

It was the tone they often used on Azzy.  

It took what felt like forever (but was in actuality closer to forty minutes), but Chara was glad to see their efforts pay off as the sparks of lights and smoke like magic finally stopped, Copper Soul’s eye lights returning, though dim.       

“Cha…a…?” She whispered, blinking sluggishly. 

 **Hey, you had a pretty bad attack there. Can you drop the barrier, please? Mom and that dumb shell-head are getting pretty concerned looking.**

“Barrier…?” 

 **Yeah. They haven’t tried to break it, but you should respond to them before they decide to. You going to be okay?**  

“Heh… heh… I must look pretty terrible for you to actually be concerned.” Copper Soul whispered, though due to how close they were, Chara still heard the words and snorted. 

 **Yeah, you really were pathetic looking.** Chara replied, deciding that the human/monster hybrid didn’t need to know that her meltdown was actually pretty scary to witness.

Backing up, Chara was about to get out of the slowly crumbling barrier when a hand passed through them. Looking back, Copper Soul was bracing against the wall, looking at them. A whisper was spoken, just loud enough for them to hear. 

“Thank you, Chara.”              

Chara turned away, smiling one of their kinder smiles.   

   

* * *

 

It was a massive relief that the noxious feeling barrier started to crumble, the young monster (was she a monster?) inside unsteadily getting to her feet.

He messed up. Badly.

Toriel had warned him Ivory's soul was in bad shape, but nothing could have prepared him for _that_. But when he had checked her and saw the 'human' on top of everything that was the young skeleton's soul, he had acted on his gut instinct. A gut instinct that told him to protect Toriel and destroy that creature who emitted such a foul feeling and sounding soul, but loyalty to Toriel and her judgement tempered his instincts with a small amount of mercy.

He had treated Ivory as a enemy and had seriously considered dusting her, even though Toriel would never forgive him.

But the overwhelming grief and homesickness her soul had screamed at him, followed by her meltdown and sheer terror... Gerson liked to believe he was a fair judge of character, but in this incident he had grossly misjudged.

Ivory's soul was alien but she was still a person, a child practically. Everything she said had been honest.  

He kept further back as the last of the barrier fell, his queen rushing forward to the younger monster(?), her motherly instincts in over drive. Ivory was trying and failing to reassure her that she was alright, actively avoiding looking at him.

He could only hope he was allowed to apologize to the wronged girl before Toriel pummeled him.

 

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Panic attacks are not fun to write... -_-'
> 
> Ivory is traumatized, Gerson done f*cked up, Chara is helpful (even if it was done out of self-serving reasons), and Tori is kinda be pissed (Goat Mama activate).
> 
> Next chapter will be up Wednesday. Thanks for reading!


	20. The Check Up pt. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333.  
> Inspired by Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise.  
> I want to do a shout out for Kamari333 and Tyrant_Tortoise, both of who have written incredible works that inspired me. If you have not read their work, go now. You are missing out!

 

* * *

 

 _This is fair,_ Gerson thought as Toriel glared at him, shielding Ivory from sight. Her hand clenched like it did when she was close to fire balling someone in the face, her magic whipping around to show her displeasure and ire. But only towards him, Ivory has been getting a steady stream of comfort, though it didn’t seem to be doing any good seeing how her emotional state has yet to ebb from fear, apprehensiveness, and something else he could not identify but felt both groggy and uneven.

This was a fair reaction from Toriel after he told her what he had done though he left out what exactly he read during the check. He broke her trust, assaulted her ward and traumatized a patient.

“Get. Out.” Toriel said in a tone he hadn’t heard since the last time she spoke to Asgore.

Oh, he messed up _badly_.

He turned to leave when Ivory’s voice (high pitch and scratchy, like she had been screaming for hours; remembering how the magic had flowed out of her mouth, it probably had the same effect) spoke out, alarm spiking past the moss pit that was her emotions.

“W-wait, no. He needs to finish this checkup.”

Both elder monsters turned to where the skeleton was, still leaning against a wall and emitting dozens of merged emotions that left him aching just from trying to define which they were.

“Look, I get it. Why you attacked me. I… I defy everything you know about souls, right? From your stand point, I probably seem like some kind of abomination.” Gerson flinched at her (accurate) words, Toriel starting to speak but Ivory stopped her. The skeletons emotions were spiking high, becoming more potent than before, similar to when she had screamed at him.  “I get it. But if you leave and get another, who is to say that person won’t react the same? Or actually just go straight for the kill? You know now that my soul is a mess, but I need to know what I can and can’t do with it… so I am trusting you to do your job.”

“Ivory! He could have killed you!” Toriel hissed, Gerson wincing at the rage directed at him.

“I know, and honestly I don’t want to be in the same building as him now. But he knows what to expect now, and I am not going to risk another healer having a similar reaction… and I know you’ll keep me safe.”

Then the skeleton looked at him, eye lights dim but resolute.

“You… you scare me. Not just because you attacked me, but because you don’t _seem_ like the type to attack first. In fact, I get the feeling you are the kind of guy who’d look a serial killer in the face and spit out ‘I wouldn't buy your chitzy garbage at knifepoint’, before actually engaging into battle. Like, you’d fight, but as a last resort.”

That… was a fairly apt description of him, and the fact she got that after only meeting him once said something about her intuition.

“So, if a chill guy like you's first reaction upon seeing my soul is to attack, then that just proves how off it is, right? So yeah, I really don’t want to be around you… but I need to be able to use magic, to know my ups and downs. You are supposed to be the best, and I honestly have no desire to find out how another healer would react. So, you will finish this before Tori sends you home… please?” She whispered the last word, anxiety rolling off her in droves and very nearly overwhelm _him_.

But it was taking her a lot of courage to ask the guy who attacked her to help, and she had even been logical about it. He didn’t think there was another in all the Underground that had his skills, nor decide to interrogate first instead of going straight for the kill. She could have had Toriel take him back to the door and left there but was willing to overlook her own discomfort in the name of understanding herself better.

 _Not a creature,_ he decided. _Maybe not even a monster,_ _but she is a person in need of aide. I will… not tell Toriel of what I saw, at least for now._

With that decided, Gerson bowed low. “I know apologies are not enough but allow me to say this; I am sorry, and I will do what I can to prove myself to you.”

A spike of surprise hit him, a tale sign that his actions had surprised the young skeleton. Slowly her fear ebbed away until it was barely noticeable. The apprehension and anxiety stayed, but he was expecting it to be there as long as he was in the same room as her.

For now, he had a patient to help.

 

* * *

 

Toriel was still tempted to punt Gerson out the door for that stunt. She had asked him to come not just because he was the best healer, but because he was, as Ivory said, “chill”.

She had figured he’d be a good first introduction to the people that lived on the other of the door, to the rest of the Underground.

Then the bastard went and attacked Ivory!

Toriel wondered if this would push Ivory back, if she’d go back to hiding in her room again once this was over ~~was she going to have dinners, patrols, and be baking alone again?~~ and if so how was she going to get the poor skeleton to trust her again.

Yes, she was proud Ivory decided to continue, but was upset that Ivory was more then likely right about what would happen if they went to someone else. She now didn’t know if she could trust Gerson with Ivory’s safety, but Ivory was trusting her to keep her safe. So, she gritted her teeth and allowed it.

She kept an eye on him as he went through a normal check: checking her Level of Violence (see Gerson? A solitary 1! Perfectly harmless.), hope (she only had _2_?! How horrifying!), checking her attack (she and Gerson could not read it correctly), and defense (3? That was very low…) but what surprised Toriel was that apparently Ivory had a surname. Not everyone in the Underground had them, most substitute it with their ethnic species.

Still, it was overall rather worrying. All of Ivory’s stats were _low_ or _illegible_.

After that Gerson went for the custom part of the checkup.

Custom checking was a normal part of it, allowing the healers to see what the patient magic specialized in, such as healing, attacking, rebuilding, defending, growing or creating.

Traditionally skeletons were well known for attacking and creating, with healing as a close third but since Ivory hailed from the surface, it was entirely possible she didn’t have these.

The first one was to be the attacking test, since neither Gerson or her could accurately see it. This meant they had to leave the house and travel a bit, since before all this Toriel had set up a couple of the tests they’d need.

As they walked, Gerson spoke to Ivory, pointedly keeping Toriel between them.

“I have already ruled out healing. No offense, but your magic does not sooth people, and I don’t think it would be wise to see what your magic could do to a wound.”

Ivory made an agreeing hum, Toriel nodding. Ivory as a healer was bound to cause more harm than good, despite her good intentions.

Rebuilding, like the Froggits was not a normal skeleton ability, but it could be learned. Though with how shaky Ivory is with her magic, it might not be a good idea. Later, when she had better control, but not now.

Defending didn’t look likely either, seeing how low Ivory’s defense was. It could be boosted, but considering how low her hope was, it didn’t seem likely.

Growing, like with the Vegatoids, was not very likely either. Skeletons had a hard time correctly nurturing plants to grow.

 Creating seemed the most likely, as skeletons were great at summoning and could create bones and other items at will. If nothing else, she’d encourage Ivory to create things.

But for now, they had to test out where her attack was at.

Finally, they arrived, Ivory giving a surprised hum.

It was the area where the dummy residing ghost lived, a place Toriel usually didn’t linger. She had asked the ghost dummy’s help with this and they were kind enough to agree.

“As we cannot see some of your stats clearly, it would be best to just test them out. Toriel has informed me that this fellow has agreed to aide us.”

“Don’t worry. We requested our friend here to be your opponent. They won’t attack you.”

“But,” Ivory stammered, pulling at her sleeve. “what if I hurt them?”

Toriel sent a tendril of comfort and encouragement to Ivory ~~missing Gerson’s curious look at Ivory’s complete lack of reaction, as though she couldn’t feel Toriel’s emotions~~.

“That is why we are here. We’ll keep either of you from causing too much damage.”

Looking back at the dummy, Ivory took a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s get this over with.”

 

* * *

 

 _I really, really,_ really _don’t want to do this._

What you wanted to do was hide in your room, get into your pj’s, make a pillow fort, eat alfredo smothered noodles and never leave.

Gerson had scared the shit out of you. You may never feel safe around him again, but you needed this done and over with. Sure, you could ask for another healer, but they may not be so restraint like Gerson had been, deciding that you was the more prudent option.

Gerson was proof just how screwed up your soul was compared to others. In the game, shopkeepers like Gerson didn’t attack you _~~THIS ISN’T A GAME ANYMORE~~._  The fact he attacked after seeing it just highlighted the vast difference your soul and this world's souls were.

Now you knew you could never let your soul out again. Best case scenario they react in disgust and dread like Toriel. Worst case, they will try to kill you.

Now here you were, keeping as far from Gerson as you could while still hearing him, testing out if you could attack. And they wanted you to attack the poor dummy.

While figuring your attacks was a good thing, what if you hurt them instead? You had no desire to hurt anyone.

Gerson (standing next Toriel who was giving him the stink eye), had pulled out a pen and notebook in hand. “Just attack that dummy as hard as you can.”

“Um… with my fists or magic? Because if you want magic, I am going to need you to show me how.”

Gerson blinked rapidly, like it didn’t dawn until now that you literally had no clue how to use your magic.

“Oh, right. I want you to close your eyes.”

You did, but not before shooting Toriel a look to ensure if she should. Upon getting a nod and encouraging smile, you did.

“Now focus on your soul. Think of it as a conduit of your will, your ambitions, your desires.”

You focused, trying to define the feeling of your soul. After nothing happened you heard Chara sigh.

**Think of it as a feeling. You remember the buzzing sensation when you were practicing on your own? Think on that, but picture it like… like a heartbeat. The pulses are your magic flowing from the center to the rest of your body, before returning. Just like how the heart pumps oxygen out into your entire body, your soul is pumping magic to your entire body. Now picture that you need to direct some of that magic out, like your donating it to creating something.**

Donating? Like blood?

You could picture that. you’ve donated blood before; the first time was rememberable because you had been stupid and hadn’t eaten or drank anything before, resulting in you getting dizzy and collapsing.

You recalled the feeling of lethargy and lightheadedness before that, and how after you felt oddly light for a few days after. Since then, you’ve donated several times, and while you had gotten better about preparing before, you still always felt that strange lightness after.

Ivan once joked that it was because you were missing a pint of blood, making you lighter ~~the sweet dork.~~

You recalled the sensation of the blood leaving your body, focusing on the feeling.

A slight thrumming sensation filled you bones, and you cracked open a socket to look at Gerson.

Both he and Toriel looked uncomfortable, but the ancient tortoise nodded. “Good. I can feel that.”

 **Is that why he looks constipated?** Chara mused.

“Now focus on creating an orb in your hand. Like this.”

Swallowing, you did as he showed you, magic trickling onto your hand, a pale copper glow engulfing it. A small white ball of magic rested in your hand, looking like a glowing snowball.

 _I-I did it._ you thought, momentarily giddy at your success.

**Now picture stabbing your enemies in the face with it.**

You proceeded to ignore the stab-happy child, focusing on the dummy. You mentally told yourself that the ghost in it had given permission… but what if you do hurt it? You had no desire to hurt anyone…

 **Just throw it already!** Chara yelled, startling you into chucking the ball at them. It dispersed before it even got half way to the smirking child.

Looking back at Gerson and Tori, the former instructed you to try and again and this time aim, while the latter gave you another encouraging smile.

You winded up, pitching it like a baseball—

And watched as it literally bounced off the dummy.

Three looks of confusions were directed at the dummy (who was giving off an air of bewilderment as well). You weren’t far behind them in confusion.

“Uhh… try again.”

Chara had gotten close, looking at the dummy closely as they motioned you to throw another. Summoning another sphere, you threw it again. Like before, it bounced off.

Chara stalled next to it, a look of disbelief on their face. **You… you _literally_ only did one-tenth of a point of damage. One-tenth of a _single point_. You might as well have been tickling it. Stars, you suck.**

Looking back at Gerson and Tori, you found both of them with equally baffled looks on their faces.

“Um… could you do that again? With a bit more intent behind it?”

Feeling a hot flush across your face, you summoned another ball and threw it. Like before it bounced off the dummy, who despite having an inert face seemed to be quietly laughing at you.

“Again, please?”

And so, you repeated, over and over, the perplexed look on Toriel’s face making you want to hide in a hole. Gerson’s expression had shifted to a more professional one, writing furiously in the note book.

Chara, of course, was now looking torn between laughing at you and being horrified at your lack of lethalness. **Congrats, you managed to _finally_ bring it down an entire _half_ _a single point_ in health. At this rate the dummy will lose interest and leave before you get even a fourth of the way through.**

“Well! I can safely say I have never seen anyone do so little damage before.” Gerson said, finishing writing.

“Let’s start on something else. Creation, we’ll start on creation. Ivory, please form a bone attack.”

Still embarrassed, you focused on your magic again, willing it into a bone. Like before, the copper-colored magic engulfed your hand, and slowly in front of you was a small bone forming. It was white and looked like a stereotypical cartoon bone, but it was a bone nonetheless. The fact you made it on your first try brought a smile on your face ~~and made your eye lights transform into bright stars, not that you were aware of that but Toriel and Gerson took note of it~~.

“Slower than I expected, but very good. Now please create a femur.”

The bone you just create dissolved shortly after that, and you re-focused on creating a femur. It took longer, as you had to remember what a femur looked like. Soon though a real-looking femur was in front of you.

“Very good. Now make a rib cage.”

That took even longer, a whole half hour and parts of it were still see-through. You felt a bit drained.

“You are slow, but speed can be achieved with time. I will let Toriel aide you with further creations, as well as keeping the creations from dispersing. Now let’s move on to defense. Stand over there please.”

The rib cage and femur dissolved as you walked away, standing not far from the dummy (who had turned to watch).

“Toriel will throw a fireball out you and I want to see you defend yourself from it. Ready?”

 _No,_ you thought looking at Toriel. _But I need to learn._

The fireball shot out, slowly making its way to you. You dodge it, wondering why Toiel didn’t at least make it go at a normal pace.

“Um, Tori? I don’t think most attacks are that slow…” you thought back at Gerson quick attack, shuddering. _Focus_. “Could you speed it up a little?”

Toriel frowned a little, but complied. The next fireball was faster, but you still dodged it. after a third one, Gerson stopped you.

“While I approve of you dodging, why aren’t you using your magic?”

“Because you told me to defend myself? And dodging is good at that.” _Sans is proof of that_.

“True, but you can’t dodge forever. Either you’ll tire out or find yourself in a situation where you can’t dodge the attack. Please form a barrier using bones.”

But…it took forever to summon up bones… and the bigger it was the longer it took!

You tried, summoning tiny bones to block the fireballs, though the bones were immediately destroyed on contact.

Gerson once more stopped you and Toriel. “Now I want you to create a large construct to shield you from Toriel’s attack.”

You felt frustration but kept quiet. Your emotions must have given you away again, because Gerson brought his hands up in a passive gesture. “I’m not telling you to do this to anger you. The little bones are a good idea, but they are very weak and are only good if the attack is coming head on, and only if you can see it. There may come a time where you need to shield yourself and others. A barrier can help you, even if it is temporary.”

You sighed, knowing he was right. But that still left you in a pickle. “How can I conjure a shield if it takes me forever to summon them? And if my defense is low, won’t that make a weak defense?”

“Practice and time. Maybe using a certain type of bone or bones to help you associate it with defense? Like in the past, femurs were often considered a very typical attack since you could easily use it like a club. Maybe you could use a wall of bones, or even a rib cage as a form of defense. As for your low defense, you are right.  All your defenses will be low, but it may help buy you time until you can get help.”

 **It’ll remain low until you can get your HP up,** Chara stated, floating near your head. **You could also raise it by increasing your LV, but I would be really furious with you if you took that route. Not that you will, you sad little bony pacifist.**

You couldn’t stop yourself from flipping Chara off, even though both Toriel and Gerson looked confused by you seemingly making a hand gesture at the wall.

Before you could ask Gerson further questions, Toriel interrupted. “I think a break is in order. Ivory isn’t used to this kind of strain, and I feeling peckish.”

You smiled gratefully at her. “Can we go to the market? We can get an easy snack and then go back to this.”

She smiled, looking really happy. **I think she is happy you want to go out into public even after Gerson’s attack.**

Oh, right you forgot how you reacted with Flowey.

You thanked the dummy for its help (and judging by the way it shook you theorized it was saying “Your welcome”) and walked ahead of Toriel but not far enough you couldn’t keep Gerson in your sights. He stayed firmly next to Toriel, so you relaxed ever so slightly.

You honestly wanted to go to the market place because you’ll be around other people, and you hoped people would keep Gerson busy with ailments he could fix, so he’d have to rush the rest of the checkup and go home faster.

It was selfish thinking, but you really wanted him to leave.

You just wanted today to end already.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I got fan art. Unicorn_Arcane made me fanart! I completely lost it.  
> Thank you, Unicorn_Arcane!
> 
> http://i-am-a-doggy.tumblr.com/post/181824409736/fanart-for-a-fanfic-called-anatomically-correct?is_liked_post=1


	21. The Check Up pt. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333.  
> Inspired by Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise.  
> If you have not read Kamari333 and Tyrant_Tortoise work, put this piece of trash down and go read their phenomenal stories!

* * *

 

 The trip to the market was uneventful, and you thanked whatever passed for a deity in this world for it (unless it really was Chara, in which case you hoped they developed a severe allergic reaction to chocolate). The three of you had stopped at one of the vegetoid stands, Gerson picking a sandwich, Toriel a pastry and you decided to munch on a tomato seeing as you didn’t have much of an appetite.

It didn’t seem very busy today, only shop keepers and a handful of people about buying. You were grateful to see some of the older resident’s had started flocking to Gerson upon realizing he was here, wanting to catch up and have the ancient healer work his magic.

All the better for you, this allowing you a chance to relax. You didn’t feel worn out, more like how one would feel after getting home from the gym. Achy but in a good way.

While Gerson was talking with the older residents Toriel had gravitated towards Sativa the Parsnik, most likely to talk about snail shipments or something.

That left you by yourself, if one did not include the parasitic apparition that was currently whining about boredom.

Ignoring them, you wandered through the market place looking idly at the wares for something to catch your eye(socket).

A smell caught your attention, and for a moment you were reminded of your parents’ home, when Nana had been feeling like making Italian food and ended up making a sauce that you fell in love with. Inhaling deeply, you followed the scent, praying it was what you thought it was.

Near the end of the market place, right before it went into the residential was a stand with another vegetoid manning it.

It didn’t take you long to find the source of the scent, and upon finding it you were practically bouncing with excitement. Looking at the vegetoid (who was giving you a rather amused look) you tried to casually inquire about the sauce.

The monster still looked amused as they said that, yes, that was Alfredo sauce you were smelling. You refrained from whooping with joy, instead you attempted to casually buy the largest jar they had.

Judging by the mirth the vegetoid was shaking with, you failed at looking (or more likely feeling) casual, but you now had Alfredo sauce.

“I’m tempted to just guzzle it here and now.” You said out loud, making the vegetoid laugh as you walked away with your prize.

 _Actually, why don’t I? Sans drinks ketchup, so its probably not that weird._ You thought, looking the jar over _. But Mom always said you can’t drink it since it isn’t healthy… buuuuut I’m not human anymore, so normal health issues don’t apply to me anymore_. _Oh, what the hell,_ You decided with a shrug. Popping the jar open, you proceeded to down its contents with gusto ~~missing the disgusted and surprised look the vegetoid was giving your back, as well as Chara's revolted look of disbelief as you quite literally drank Alfredo sauce like it was water~~.

 _Okay, that was delicious._ You thought, whipping your teeth with a sleeve. You were definitely getting more later. Putting the jar in a trash bin near one of the stands, you continued your meandering, simply enjoying the quiet.

 **I’m booooooored.** Chara whined, floating near your head in a listless manner.

“Then go and do something.” You spoke, raising your phone to your head to give the illusion you were actually talking to someone ~~who was alive~~.

 **But there is nothing to do**. They pouted.

“Why don’t you go back to the Void? I’m sure it misses you.”

**I’m not _that_ bored.**

“Shame. I was hoping for some peace and quiet.”

**And deprive you of my awesome company? Perish the thought.**

You turned to look at them and deliver your retort when the metaphorical air got knocked out of your absent lungs.

“Miss Skeleton!”

It took you a moment to register the small Loox child who had managed to knock you to the ground, and upon seeing Lookie Eyewalker grinning happily at you, you returned the smile.

“Hey kiddo!”

Lookie sat up long enough to yell, “Miss Skeleton is here!” before going back to hugging your rib cage. Almost immediately you were swarmed by a small herd of colorful Loox children, all babbling happily at you.

Most of them looked vaguely familiar, and you assumed they were there during the Loox family reunion. You wished you could remember their names, but settled for figuring who was who by their characteristic. A orange one in dull blue and black stripes was talking about a project they did for school (there was a school in the Ruins?), another who was a silver color with grey and pink stripes was going on about a family related drama, while Lookie refused to budge from their spot on your lap.

Suddenly a small red Loox started shouting above the rest. “Miss Skeleton! Miss Skeleton! Tell us a story!”

Immediately after saying this, all the children dropped whatever they were talking about and started chanting, “Story! Story! Story!”

You chuckled, setting Lookie down as you stood up. “I see. You just wanted me to tell a story! You really didn’t want to see me personally.”

Most of the kids had the decorum to look abashed. The little red one just shrugged and said, “Yup, that’s right. Story time now?”

You couldn’t stop the laughter at the tiny child’s blunt answer, and neither did Chara.

“Such a charmer! Ohhhh… I guess I could tell a _little_ story. Ever hear the tale about the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh?” You said with mirth, quickly thinking of how to make it monster friendly while adding your own spin on to the Disney classic.

As soon as they realized you really were about to tell a story the kids scrambled to find a sitting place, some of the smaller ones sitting in the laps of bigger kids.

You grinned at their antics, feeling for the first time that day fully relaxed.

You began the story, starting with the (in your humble option) best musical intro the 1960’s Disney movies ever made.

Scarecrow

Scarecrow

The soldiers of the king feared his name

Scarecrow...

On the southern coast of England

There's a legend people tell

Of days long ago

When the great Scarecrow

Would ride from the jaws of hell

And laugh (Ahhh! Ha-ha! Ha-ha! Ha-ha! Ha-haaa!)

With a fiendish yell

With his clothes all torn and tattered

Through the black of night he'd ride

From the marsh to the coast

Like a demon ghost

He'd show his face then hide

And he'd laugh

Till he'd split his side

So the king told all his soldiers

"Hang him high or hang him low

But never return

Till the day I learn

He's gone in flames below

Or you'll hang

With the great Scarecrow”

Scarecrow (Scarecrow)

Scarecrow (Scarecrow)

The soldiers of the king feared his name

Scarecrow (Scarecrow)

Scarecrow (Scarecrow)

The country folk all loved him just the same

Scarecrow

He would always help the farmer

When there was no gold to bring

He'd find a way

For the poor to pay

The taxes of the king

"Scarecrow"

Ev'ry man would sing

Scarecrow (Scarecrow)

Scarecrow (Scarecrow)

The soldiers of the king feared his name

Scarecrow (Scarecrow)

Scarecrow (Scarecrow)

The country folk all loved him just the same

Scarecrow

Scarecrow

Scarecrow

Many of the children's eyes were wide, leaning in as you started the story proper. Grinning, you began the tell the story in earnest, allowing yourself to emerge with the tale. You only vaguely noticed that Chara had drifted near your audience, watching you as intently as they did. ~~None of you noticed the yellow flower that was listening in, looking interested at the tale you were weaving for your audience.~~

 

* * *

 

 _It was nice, getting caught up with old friends._ Gerson had eventually found Toriel and his old friend Savita, chatting about snails. Toriel had frowned at him but didn’t try to keep him out of the conversation. He knew he wasn’t forgiven, but it seems that Toriel was willing to give him a chance.

 _Probably because of Ivory,_ he thought sadly, still shamed at his own actions. Savita looked at him suddenly, concern on his serpentine face.

“Is something the matter, friend?”

Oh, he must have not been paying attention to his own feelings. Sighing, Gerson looked to Toriel, looking to her for how much was to be said. Toriel looked conflicted for about a second before shrugging, a tendril of comfort touching him.

“I had requested Gerson to do a check up on Ivory.”

Savita looked concern, a ripple of worry flowing out mixed with inquiry. “Is this because of her nearly falling down not too long ago? Has she lost more hope?”

Gerson felt alarmed at this. Ivory had nearly fallen down? Stars, he knew her hope was worryingly low, but Toriel didn’t say it had been that bad. Had she been losing hope? 

 _She fell from the surface… you remember what it had been like the first few centuries for everyone._ He thought with a wince. The first few centuries into their imprisonment had been very rough, with a massive number of people who fell down and eventually dusted from lack of hope.

They had lost entire groups of monsters, such as the blemmyaes, the gargoyles, the magyrs, and most of the fire and sun elementals. There were many more, but Gerson had for his own sanity and hope chose to not to dwell on the massive loss of lives.  

He and countless others have gotten very good at ignoring their situation, choosing to focus on how to make better the lives of others.

He watched as Toriel sent the old Parsnik a balm like palliative feeling to ease his worry.

“She is fine. But her… soul is worrisome. We think the event that lead to her loosing her family has warped her soul.”

Under normal circumstance, he would have chided Toriel for speaking about one of his patients like this, queen or no. But considering who she was talking to, he allowed it. Savita knew what it was like to nearly fall down, having suffered great loss in his time. He had recovered, though it left his soul with deep cracks.

A cracked soul was considered the lesser of two ailments, because while it was worrisome to have cracks in one’s soul, it could theoretically mend with time and care. A warped soul was worse, seeing how the soul itself was no longer in its right form, and could negatively affect the person’s mental state.

_And now we have a new level of sickness, in the form of Ivory’s frankly grotesque soul._

Savita looked horrified at the news, but before he could ask more several younger vegetoids rushed past them, excitably talking out loud. One of them stopped, smiling at Savita. “Um, Savita? Can you tell my Mum I’ll be at the edge of the Market place?”

Quickly hiding his concern, the elderly veggie smiled at the young one, exuding a poised yet warm aura. “Sure, but why are you going there?”

“Oh, Miss Skeleton is telling some stories! The Loox’s won’t shut up about her stories so I really want to hear one! Thanks Savita!” And with that they were off, catching up with their friends.

The three adults watched them go before looking at each other. Without saying anything, Savita placed a break sign on his snail stand and went where the children had ran off to, Toriel and Gerson close behind.

They weren’t the only adults who seemed interested, seeing how most of the market vendors had placed up signs and went to the edge of the market place. As they got closer, the air felt charged with emotions, bright and warm.

Soon they were at the edge, where a very large crowd of children were sitting, adults lingering near the back. It wasn’t just Loox and Vegetoids either, there was a good number of Froggits, Misgosps, a few Whimsuns and even one Moldsmal near them.

In front of them was Ivory, completely focused on the audience before her, animatedly gesturing as she spoke, her emotions swirling thickly through the air, lending a sense of excitement as well as the tone of the story.

One of Savita’s serpent vines poked a Froggit, asking what the story was about.

“The story is about a monster named Doctor Syn, mild-mannered priest by day, masked avenger of justice by night.”

 “Yeah!” a Misgosp whispered. “The doctor dresses as a scarecrow monster to hide his identity, to help the poor and downtrodden while fighting against an evil monarch and his general.”

“Shhhh! I can’t hear her!” A Whimsun snapped at them, surprising those that heard the normally meek being.

Suddenly Ivory’s let out a demented sounding laugh, eye-lights glowing a vividly bright copper as anticipation filled the air. “Ahhh! Ha-ha! Ha-ha! Ha-ha! Ha-haaa!”

The air around him practically exploded with passion as the children around the skeleton shook with excitement and motivation. Was Ivory actually displaying what she wanted them to feel?

The children excitably chattering among themselves, and Ivory’s grin was wide as she looked up—

And suddenly the grin froze, copper colored eye lights dimming to white, as the warm cheery sensation in the air suddenly scattered, shock, apprehension and embarrassment replacing it, the previously expanding sentiments shrinking tremendously.

 _What just happened?_ he wondered, felling like he just got whiplashed from the sudden change in emotional atmosphere.

“Did… did she not realize we were here? Oh roots, she hadn’t noticed we were here and is now embarrassed.” Savita whispered, looking sympathetic towards the skeleton who couldn’t even form a sentence now.

The children were emitting confusion at Ivory’s sudden change (the girl was physically folding in on herself, potent feelings of mortification flooding off her), and started looking around, many realizing that the crowd watching was much bigger than before Ivory started her story. A small white Loox stood up, glaring in what they must have meant as a fierce way but really just made them look pouty.

“Hey! Go away! Your scaring her!”

A sense of clarity rippled through the children and many of the adults, one Gerson understood. _So, she gets shy when adults hear her telling stories? Or when she is in front of bigger crowds?_   Looking at Ivory (who was looking anywhere but in front of her, even looking behind herself), he wondered if she was always shy or developed that due to her soul.

Suddenly the ground shook, many freezing up in dread. A cracking noise filled the air, and sheer terror griped him and countless others. Looking up, Gerson prayed he hadn’t just felt the cave ceiling starting to collapse. It had happened far too many times in his life time and was something that still terrified him to this day.

Instead of the ceiling, he looked up in time to see a nearby building crumble forward, pitching right where they all stood. Panic flooded his senses as everyone tried to run for it, adults grabbing children left and right in a mad desperate dash to safety, he himself grabbing the closest youngsters and running, though a part of him knew it wouldn’t be enough, that he wouldn’t be quick enough, but he had to try.

The last thing he saw and heard was Toriel reaching for him, and a thunderous ‘ ** _LUB-DUB’_** that shook his very soul.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't wait to write Sans reaction to her drinking Alfredo sauce.
> 
> To anyone who remembers "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh", you are officially the most amazing person ever. I loved this series growing up, and I like the idea that Ivory would tell stories like those (while editing them to fit her audience of course).
> 
> If you are wondering about what other story she has told the kids, it was reference back in chapter 7. 
> 
> Hold on to your coccyx, the Check Up Arc is almost over!


	22. The Check Up pt.  5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333.  
> Inspired by Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise.  
> I want to do a shout out for Kamari333 and Tyrant_Tortoise, both of who have written incredible works that inspired me. If you have not read their work, go now. You are missing out!

* * *

 

He should just collapse the building now. That stupid skeleton was right there, and even better they were in front of a group of people! Multi kill for the win!

_Buuuuut, she was telling a pretty good story… he could wait till she was done._

It wasn’t often he got to hear a new story, and she was surprisingly good at telling them.

For someone who had a habit of hiding behind ~~his Mother’s~~ Toirel’s skirt, she could definitely tell a great story. He could _feel_ the tension and anticipation in the story! And unlike the ache in his face, this felt nice!

It was practically a pity she was about to get crushed to death. If all her stories were _this_ good, he’d almost be willing to exempt her from his experiment.

 _Oh well._ He thought with a shrug, listening to her story and coasting on the emotions she was emitting from the tale and savoring the benign sensations that miraculously soothed the ache in his face. he could feel, and it didn't hurt like the last time he had interacted with her magic. He wondered if it was because she was feeling positive emotions _—_

Suddenly the emotions were disconnected, causing him to jerk back at the sudden cut off.

He watched as the skeleton seemed to fold in on herself at the realization that the crowd was much bigger than she thought. He felt an odd and detached moment of sympathy for her before shaking his head. there was a small and needy part of him that wanted to stop this experiment until she was gone so he could feel those benign feelings again, but he pushed that aside in the name of curiosity.

Looking back at the task at hand, he twisted and grew his vines, severing the last of the foundation that kept the building up, tearing a large section out to make it give way in the desired direction.

With a clinical sort of impartiality, he watched as the building proceeded to sway before plunging, falling in the path that held most of the Ruins populace.

A booming ‘ **LUB-DUB’** filled the air, followed by a cacophony of the same eerie noise. Then a tempest of magic shot out from the beneath the falling the building, slamming into him with the same force one would feel if free falling and suddenly impacting the ground at high terminal velocity.

He wheezed, feeling crushed by the magic, recognizing the magic as _hers_.

Pain course through him, like his entire body was simultaneously set on fire, frozen and electrocuted, accompanied by a menagerie of conflicting and overwhelming emotions.

 _Stop,_ He thought desperately. ᔕ ** _t_** _oP!_ _🅂_ _TØp! ρl€aş_ _ᗴ_ _ŞŤ_ _¤_ _p_ _! ɯ,I_ _S_ ** _ᵒ_** ** _ ~~ＲⓇ~~_** ** _Y_** ** _ ~~!!~~_**! **!**

He fled, dug deep into the ground, desperate to escape.

 

* * *

 

You had never been great with crowds. Small groups like the kids? That was fine. This though? You honestly wished you knew how to correctly short cut to get away from this.

Honestly, you hadn’t noticed the rather large crowd that had emerged, having gotten so into the story and watching the kid’s reaction. But now, Lookie and the tiny red one were standing in front of you, yelling at the crowd to leave you alone.

It made you non-existent heart go ‘awwww’.

A thunderous crack filled the air, and for a moment you thought it was an actual thunder clap, but the ground was shaking, and people were screaming, pointing off to—

Where a building was collapsing.

You froze, soul felt like it dropped with enough force that you wouldn’t be surprised it had left a crater beneath you.

The world seems to slow down, you rooted to the spot as you looked around, feeling detached from the fear before looking back at the swiftly approaching building.

 _Can’t move. Scared. Goi_ _ᵍnͦgͥᶰ ᵍtoͭ ͦdiͩeͥ.ͤ ᵍSͦcͥᶰaᵍreͭdͦ.ᵈᶤᵉ_ Terror gripped your soul, tears welling in your sockets as you froze in place. _ˢGͣoͮdͤ, ͫIͤ’ˢmͨ ͣgͬoͤiͩnˢgͦ ˢtͨoͣ ͬdͤiͩe…_

“M-Miss Skeleton!” Lookie cried out, tears flooding his eye, as he clung to the bawling tiny red Loox, the children huddled around you tearfully crying out in panic, and for a moment a seven-year-old Ivan flashed in your head.

_…and so is **ev͐̋e̿r̄̋͋y̌̍ͣo͑̍͆͗ne͛͊͊ ̓̉̏el͒̑sͥe͗.ͤ̏͗**._

That sparked something deep within you, something primal and deeply rooted in your very character.

**~~The sight of these small frighten children crying for their lives filled you with a overwhelming desire to keep the young ones safe. You are filled with Determination.~~ **

You didn’t care if you weren’t strong enough, you had to do _something!_

Bracing yourself, you grabbed the magic thrumming within you, and ignoring every doubt _~~this is no place for doubt~~_ you had and summoned the biggest densest bones you could think of.

Time slowed down further in your mind as bones the width of the vendor stands launched out of the ground and rushed towards the hurtling building. You spared just enough of a look around to the cluster of people around you, mentally tallying them as you summoned huge bones around them to block the falling chunks of the building. Glad to see they weren’t dissipating on impact, you kept switching your sight to the rapidly oncoming building and the groups still unprotected.

You were wheezing, feeling like you had just lost a ton of blood and desperately trying to remain standing, the children around you looking about at the bones in alarm yet hope blossomed at the sight.

It wasn’t going to be enough, you couldn’t protect them and keep the oncoming building from collapsing on top of everyone.

Panic bubbled inside you. _People or building?! People but no guarantee of survival or building and still lots of crushed people?! I didn’t have time or magic—_

You looked around again, spying Chara not far from you. Chara was just standing there, looking up in terror before eyes clenching shut, curling in on themselves to protect their tiny body from the debris, tearing running down their face. A wall of bones sprouted around them, you unconsciously trying to keep them safe like the rest of the kids. They looked to where you were, lips wobbling, tears running down their face and distress and panic etched in them frighten red eyes—

**~~The sight of Chara, terrified and weeping pissed you off and triggers your instinctual desire to protect those younger than you even further. You are filled with enough Determination to nuke a small country.~~ **

Something erupted inside you, growing, burning, and _pain, pain like you have never experienced before_ _—_

_—  ᶰYou feᶠlˢt likeʲ you wʷeˡrˡeᶰ dipˡpˡeʷd in nucᶠlˢear enᶠeˢrgy _—__

__—__ _ **lͥiʷkͥˡeˡ ᶰsͦoͭmeͣˡoˡnͦʷe ͥhͭaᶠdͧ ͨᵏseͭtͪ ͥˢyˢoͪuͥrͭ mͥarͬrͤᶠoͧˢwͤ oͭnͦ fͩiͥrͤe**_ _—_

 _—_ **_liͥkeͬ ͤᶠyͧˢoͤu ͭwͦerͩeͥ ͤbeͥinͬgͤᶠ ͧˢiͤmmͭoͦlˡeͤtͭedͣᶰ ʸtͦᶰoͤ dͩeͥaͤth_ ** _—_ ****

 

**_B̭̬̠͓̼̐ͬ̌u̲͉̱̮̮̲͑͆ṯ̭̫ ̫͔̲̬͔̥̗ͮ̓̀̓y͔̖̖̞̞̋̓̂̇͊ͨo̠͖̠ͮ̎̀͋̕u̫̩̫̻͈ ̄̈͏̯̤ȓ̠̺̘̠̯͎̻e̛͙̙͙̣ͩ̀̏fù͕͇̱̤͔͕̐ͬͭs̘̗̊ę̈́̐ͥd̟ d̾̀̆̄͒eͧ͐͊̎â͑ṫͨ́h̭̥̭͑ͥ._ **

 

_**“FUCK THIS SHIT!”** _

You summoned that magma-like magic that coursed through you and unleashed it, people pinging in your head like a sensor as your quickly counted the numbers and immediately surrounded them, an idea forming quickly. Gerson said that certain bones were identified for certain uses. You knew that a rib cage was meant to protect a human’s innards. It could be used to surround a person in a similar manner. The cages were cartoony and not great looking, but it was solid and hovered over the everyone.

At the same time, you forced the still rushing bones to grow in size. They collided with the building, embedding within it, flicking your hand in a arch to make them grow bone spurs to catch on to walls inside. The building barely slowed down, so you threw another set of bones at it. you kept throwing sets of bones at the slowing building, using the last few sets to brace the bigger ones that were beginning to crack under the pressure. Finally, after over a dozen sets the building finally came to a halt.

You were wheezing through clenched teeth, your head felt like it was going to crack open and every bone in your body felt like it was melting and vibrating at the same time, you vision hazing around the edges. How you were standing was a mystery.

“Miss Skeleton…?” Somewhere you heard one of the children, but it sounded far, far away.

One of your cages was moving towards you- you didn’t see it, but you felt it moving. In fact, several cages were moving, mostly in no see-able pattern, the cages acting like blips in your head, like watching a sonar radar pinging. Someone came into view, and you vaguely knew this monster but in your current state you couldn’t even begin to identify anyone.

“I-Ivory?”

A worrying groan was heard overhead, the bones keeping the structure up cracking and fracturing.

“Get…out. People.” You managed to wheeze through clenched teeth, something slick and wet rolling down your skull.

“What…?”

“Can’t keep up… get out. Bones- _breaking_ - _getout_.”

The vegetoid(?) grimaced and nodded turning to speak to someone. That someone was Toriel who moved in front of you.

“How long can you keep that up, Ivory?”

Another ominous groan overhead, dust falling thickly.

“Not sure. Not long. _Geteveryoneout!”_

The haziness in your sight was getting worse, and you were fairly certain if you moved at all, you’d drop dead. The pinging in your head kept going, cages moving around, Toriel’s voice sounding so far away.

Soon you felt the cages moving in one direction, some merging with others, getting further and further away from you and your area of ‘sight’. You really hoped your ‘vision’ ended where the exit out from under here was.

Soon they blipped completely out, and then another group blipped out followed by another. You focused on these blips because it meant they were alive, and it distracted you from the pain your body was in.

After what felt like an eternity ~~with creaking and crumbling from a build that was getting harder and harder to hold up, and each blip off your ‘radar’ sounding like a victory to your agony-marinated body~~ someone came up to you, though you hadn’t a clue who, the haze in your gaze rendered you practically blind from the pain.

“…vory…got every… those constructs… enough… you… get out?”

You tried to look at them despite your blurry vision—

**[Gerson Boom]**

**[LV: 3]**

**[HP: 29/32]**

**[AT: 34]**

**[DF: 30]**

**[This monster is remorseful on how he treated you. He wants to help.]**

Huh. That was new.

**Hey, you still alive?**

Of all the things you could hear clearly…

**Oh good, you’re still breathing. He wants to know if you can get out before the building crushes you.**

No. you can’t. You were not getting out of here on your own… but if you did move the building would fall, and Gerson would die with you. You didn’t like him, but he was needed. You’d bet your spine there was wounded.

_You’ll die…_

Oddly enough, it wasn’t so scary now. You weren’t sure if the pain you were in was just so bad it destroyed your self-preservation or if you simply accepted it.

“Ivory?” _oh, he sounded worried…_

“Ye-es. Go.” You lied, but strangely enough you didn’t feel bad about it.

For once your magic didn’t tell on you, because he left.

**So how are you getting out?**

“Not.”

**Not…what?**

“Not gettin’ out.” You were kinda proud you had formed a full sentence.

 **But… you have to. You made a contract**.

“S’rry.”

**I don’t understand. You… are you just going to let yourself die?**

“Hm.”

**But-but I need you. I can’t break that barrier by myself! What about whats-his-face, your brother?! Aren’t you going to save him?! _WHY ARE YOU GIVING UP??!_**

You hadn’t heard them scream before, they sounded hurt and desperate. A rumble above told you that you didn’t have much time.

“Void.”

The seemed to stop them short. **What are you going on about now?**

The rumble got louder, and you felt one of your bone pillars fracture. “Void. Go.”

**You are not making sense!**

“Void. Go. You safe there.”

One of the main pillars broke, putting strain on the others.

“Please go. Be safe.”

 **You know I can’t die again.** They said, but they sounded oddly soft.

The thing was you _did_ know that out of everyone here, Chara wouldn’t get hurt. They were the least likely to acquire an injury…

…but the image of Chara, too scared to move and looking at you with tears running down their face and an expression of someone who was genuinely afraid for their life would not leave you.

You felt something in you breakdown and you just knew a good number of your bones had just dissipated.

With more effort than you ever thought you’d put into it, you managed to speak clearly. “You’re still a kid. Adults like me protect kids, even if they’re ghosts. So, shut up and get yourself somew’ere safe, Chara.”

An earth-shattering boom resounded out, multiple bones snapping under the weight of the building. Dust wafted throughout the air, as the building continued its collision course.

“VOID NOW CHARA!” You screamed, feeling like glass shards were tearing you apart from within, and you gave one last pulse of magic to get them to hurry up. The last thing you felt as the world collapsed around you was a yank on your soul before suddenly—

Silence. Silence and darkness.

You weren’t even aware that you blacked out.

 

* * *

 

Chara would be the last to admit to anyone that they didn’t always had a plan. Azzy certainly believed his sibling had plan within plans with adjacent plans to those plans. Chara liked that most people thought they plotted and schemed away, made them feel greater than they really were.

But in reality, Chara wasn’t the mastermind everyone seemed to think they were. Most of their plans boiled down to ‘do A to get B for C outcome’, which they liked. Simple plan was their main mode of operations, even if that required a bit more steps. The problem wasn’t the planning though, it was the execution of said plans.

It was becoming obvious to the lifeless child that even their most simple and straight forward plans tended to get snagged. They could see how each of their carefully laid plans got thrown out the window; the ~~suicide~~ jump into a hole in Ebbot Mountain, the obstinate and frankly mean behavior they exhibited towards their new family that first year to get them to show their true colors ~~they were grateful that they were honest-to-stars good people~~ , their plan to free everyone ~~that failed so badly and left them in this nonliving state and Azzy worse off and their parents splitting,~~ bringing Outworlders into their world in hopes of breaking the barrier ~~and the hell it unleashed upon the timeline and Frisk~~ , and the dealing with other Outworlders that used Frisk as a meat puppet ~~they took far too much delight in tearing the soul apart~~.

Now here was another plan in motion, and Chara was waiting to see how kerfuffle this one would get. Because it _would_ go badly somewhere, Chara knew this simply by the fact that if they were the one to come up with it than without fail something will go wrong.

They could count on one hand with fingers to spare how many of their actually plans went right, which was a depressing thought to think. But here Chara was hoping that whatever screwed up this time would be minor and only effect those who deserve it.

They wanted, more than anything, was to free their family and race, to let them out of their prison.

How many more failures were they going to endure before they succeeded? Chara was full of Determination, if nothing else.

What Copper Soul was full of though was anyone’s guess.

The thing Chara really hated about Outworlder souls were that they didn’t have just seven colors. Oh no, those freaks had the entire rainbow, each with their own set of abilities that Chara still didn’t know even a fraction of what they could do.

Pearl Soul had an affinity towards time magic, capable of creating save points and resets, an ability Frisk had absorbed during their merging.

Black Soul could create and enforce a set of ‘rules’ like you’d find in a game, having been inspired by the monsters check and stat and how encounters works. Chara kept this after chucking them back into their world and usually only used on those asses that went Genocide route on their populace ~~not anymore though~~.

Copper Soul _looked_ like they could be a mix of Bravery and Determination, except Chara found her to be fainthearted and irresolute at best. Copper Soul was constantly afraid and very rarely had any willpower outside of what was absolutely necessary, what they did have was pettiness, indecisiveness and a knack for blending in.

When they had dropped the newly transformed human in the Underground, Chara had figured she would have tried to leave, regardless of the fact they weren’t human anymore. Instead she put down roots and had accepted her fate with little fanfare, not even trying to fight her situation.

It had taken Chara an embarrassingly long time to discover that they had gone back in time, farther than they could ever go. Chara had thrown a fit in the Void, cursing themselves out for forgetting that even if she wasn’t human physically anymore, that newly made skeleton still had an Outworlder’s soul and if there was anything Chara had learned about Outworlder souls it was that their mere presence changed things.

But this was an opportunity Chara couldn’t afford to waste, and while they despised Outworlders they could work with them if absolutely necessary. It meant renegotiating the contract and giving up more control than they were comfortable with, but Chara was determined to see this through. Copper Soul wanted to go home with her brother’s soul, and Chara had quickly figured that as long as Copper Soul had a goal to work towards, she was determined enough.

What Chara hadn’t told the Copper Soul was that it was entirely possibly she’d die breaking that barrier, fragmenting her soul beyond repair. Chara and Black had seen Pearl shatter their soul breaking it in an attempt to escape the Underground to become a God on the surface, and for roughly an hour they were free… and would have probably stayed free had Pearl not done a save beforehand. It had been the only time either Black or Pearl tried to bring down the barrier, and it was the only thing that truly frightened them… and was the only thing that could truly kill an Outworlder.

Chara had every intention to keep their end of the deal, by sending the brother’s soul back as well as any remains of Copper’s soul… they just didn’t promise to actually return Copper’s brother to _his_ body, nor to send Copper’s remaining soul shards into _her_ body due to there being no mention of Copper’s body anywhere in the deal.

Was that cruel of Chara to warp the actual words of said contract? Yes, absolutely. Would they do it again to protect their world and people? **_Yes, absolutely_**.

You see, once the contract was renegotiated, Chara had decided to personally keep an eye on Cooper Soul. Humans were scum on their best days, and Outworlder humans were even worse than scum. Copper Soul may have been a weak-willed chicken, but even the most pathetic of humans could become very dangerous when left to their own devices.

Chara may have made her deliberately weak (weaker than they meant to), but they had no doubt that it wouldn’t be long before she figured out how to manipulate things to her benefit. It was only a matter of time before Copper Soul got it in her head that she could do _anything_ (and worse, back up that belief with raw power), to realize that she was (even in monster form) so much more powerful than everyone else in the Underground. Copper Soul may have been acting like a decent person but Chara was patient. Copper Soul would eventually slip up and reveal her true colors and Chara would be there.

Chara had watched power corrupt Pearl and Black, the former more so, and if- _when_ that happened, they would be there to drag Copper back into the Void. Or if they actually managed to bring down the barrier, Chara would reward her for her work by fulfilling the contract, but by the letter.

But if Copper Soul failed, then the previous timeline would reestablish itself and they’d be right back where they started.

But for now, Chara would watch Copper Soul, follow her around and act like the child they were and get petty satisfaction when the ticked off the transformed human, all awhile observing her.

Currently, Chara’s next big mistake was telling a rather delightful story about a renegade who wore a mask to fight against the oppression of a corrupt monarch.

And while listening to the rather enticing tale, Chara was doing a check on her stats… and trying to understand what they were seeing.

**Ivory O͝stei͝n̡  
**

**͟L͞V: ̨1͏**

**HP̸: ͡7̨/7**

**A̛T:͘ 0**

**D͢F: 0**

**Th̷is͜ h͘um̶a̧n ̵loves t̢el̛li͏ng stori͞e͡s̶,̕ fįndin̵g j̕oy a͟n̶d ̢hơpe̡ ̸in͘ ͏thę s͜įmpl̸e͡ a͏ct.̡**

Why had the stats changed? How in the world had her hope gone up while her defense and attack dropped to nothing? That shouldn’t be possible! Could Copper Soul change their stats at will? Or was it something else?

Suddenly Copper soul stopped telling her story, her emotions jumbling and screeching to a halt before practically withered away on the spot.

Chara looked around and realized with a startle that their were a much bigger number of people than before, with Mom and that dumb shell-head in the back.

Chara refocused on Copper Soul’s stats, suddenly curious.

**Iv̸̢͝o͟ŗy̛͟ ̢҉Ǫ͏s͡ţ̕e̴i͟͝n͟  
**

**̕͜͢ĻV͠:̷͝ ͜1  
**

**̛Ḩ͟͞P͡͏:̶ ̶̷3͏͏/̸3̛**

**A͜͠T:̛͢ ͜͠͠1͞͏**

**D͏F̢̨:̨̛ 3̶͝0̴̧͡͞͡**

**Ţhi̸̸͢s̸̢ ̧̡h̛͏̢ưmąn ̸͘w̡̨a̡͝nt̨͘͜s ͡t͜o h͜͝id͠e̴̛͞ ou̡͘͏t̴̵͟ ͢o͝f̷ ̴e͜͞͡m̷͜b̨̛a̕͝r̸͡r̷͞a͘͢s͘s̕m̛͜͡e̶͜n̡̕t.**

Situational changes? Copper Soul’s stats change depending on how they were feeling? Was that her ability? To change her stats? The only thing that hadn’t changed was the LoVe and name, but if she could harness the ability to change it at will…

Could she change her stats to godlike numbers? And if she could change it, was it just the numbers changing or her powers and skills? Sans was the single deadliest monster alive, the most skilled in all the Underground but he had the lowest stats in existence, was Copper Soul similar? Was she—

A rumble that brought back better some of their scariest memories echoed out, causing the azoic child to look around, praying they didn’t just hear the beginning of a cave-in.

Memories flood them, a lifetime ago, being trapped under rocks—

Instead, they saw a building start to fall, slowly but gaining in speed right where they were. Pieces were breaking off.

For a moment Chara froze as the people around them began to scream and panic, fleeing in all directions.

A massive piece tore away, and Chara could see that it would land right where they were floating. In the back of mind, they knew it couldn’t hurt them, they knew they were safe, but they still instinctively clenched their eyes shut and braced themselves as if it really could hurt them.

A deafening noise filled their ears as they felt like a tidal wave hit them, air whooshing past them. The noise sounded like a hammer hitting a drum rapidly just like—

—the hammering of a heart, beating in terror.

Chara’s eyes snapped opened, and for a moment didn’t understand what they were looking at. Stumbling away, it quickly became obvious that a pillar of massive bones surrounded them, having struck the falling chunk and was now holding it up.

Chara’s head whipped around to where Copper Soul was standing.

Arms stretched out and stance locked in a bracing manner was Copper Soul. Coppery magic covered her hands as her right socket was void black and her left filled with flashing copper and white light, the magic exhausting like a chimney from it.

All around them were bones of every size imaginable, surrounding people as it struck the falling debris. But it wouldn’t be enough, the main part of the building was falling too fast—

**ᶰEͦveͣrͥyͬoʷnͣˡeˡ ˢwaͨˡsͦˢ ͥᶰgᵍoiͥᶰngͨ ͣᶰtͭoᵇ ͬgͤeͣtͭ ͪsqͪuͤˡiᵖshͫeͤd—**

 “ ** _FUCK THIS SHIT_**!” Copper Soul screamed, the deafening noise of their soul somehow getting louder, to the point it vibrated through everyone with each ‘ ** _LUB-DUB’_** , and her right socket blazed to life in molten copper lights as her magic engulfed her entire body.

The magic held for a fraction of a second before exploding outwards, hitting everyone around her with the force of a gale. As the potent magic struck, it immediately began to form. In the span of a handful of blinks everyone – _including Chara_ – was cocooned in an enormous rib cage construct, the pillars of bones expanding in size, rushing up to meet the collapsing building.

The bone pillars met the building head on, embedding deep within it. More pillars rushed after them, striking true with many embedding in it like the first group. A third row of pillars, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, a seventh, the building slowing with each impacted.

Finally, after the thirteenth set of pillars it stopped. Chara stared as dust and debris still fell, chunks tearing off… but the main body had been stopped. It was darker underneath the building the only real light being Copper’s slightly glowing bones. Chara grounded themselves on those dull lights, standing on wobbly legs ~~when did they fall onto the ground?~~.

Shaking, Chara looked back to Copper Soul, a shaky smile on their face as they opened their mouth to… well, say something.

Any words they had died in their throat upon seeing the skeleton.

Dull rust-colored sweat rolled off of her head, teeth gritted so tight it was a miracle they hadn’t crushed them, eye sockets completely gone with the amount of light emitting from it, Copper’s whole body was shaking, the rattling barely audible over the ‘ ** _LUB-DUB’_** , the noise so rapid Chara was certain if it had been an actual heart it would have ruptured.

**I̷v͟or͞y O̵şt̷ein̶  
**

**̕LV: 1̡  
**

**H͢P: 6/20  
**

**AT: -5,̨00̛0̧  
**

**DF͞: 10̵,̵000͠**

**The world͡ said͝ ̷i̧t͘ ͡was̨ ̶tim̧e͏ ͏fo̡r͞ ̕h͡e͠r ͠tơ ̴di͏e̶.̛ ̴ But she͠ refused͝.**

The Parsnik Mom liked to buy from had managed to get close, his rib cage barrier keeping him from getting too close, but close enough to talk. Chara couldn’t hear them over Copper’s soul, but whatever was said made the Parsnik grimaced but nod.

Mom got to them, and the Parsnik spoke quickly to her looking pointedly upwards. Chara looked up, head feeling fuzzy and aching from the vibrations from Copper’s soul.

At first Chara couldn’t see what was wrong, but as they focused, they soon realized that the bones were cracking, the sets of pillars having been getting progressive smaller, the last third or fourth not having met the building, instead bracing the bigger ones.

With horrified comprehension, Chara realized that Copper Soul had not really stopped the building, but rather delayed it.

Mom was barking out orders getting every adult to move. People were moving as fast as they could to get everyone out, some needing to dig out others from the fallen rubble. Those who were getting the children out discovered that when carrying others, the rib cages merged into one, making people try to move in groups.

Soon there was an assembly line of people working to get the debris off of others, Mom working hard to move the bigger stuff with the larger Froggits. Chara could see a fair amount of unconscious and wounded, but worse was the piles of dust. Chara had only spotted three, but they would bet one of their harvested souls that there were more.

Mom went to each rib cage healing who needed it, getting others to merge cages and flee. The geezer turtle was back up, face smeared in dust but awake and coherent enough to help.

A cracking noise echoed out, causing Chara to look to the bones keeping the building up, grimacing at the sight of the visible cracks that was webbing out on the main support ones.

Suddenly a swarm of flies rushed towards the cracks, smashing against it. More bugs and even frogs swarmed the various cracks in the bones, smashing into a fine paste against them. They were… solidifying?

Chara looked around again, seeing various Migosps and Froggits spitting out magic constructs that resembles flies and frogs that leaped at the fissures, but instead of damaging the bones they were hardening it, trying to keep them from cracking further. A few Looxs shot out rings of magic that gripped to the bones acting like a brace.

 **Oh, they are fortifying the pillars…** Chara murmured, head pulsing in time with the heart beat-like magic that was coagulating the air around them. It was like swimming through jelly. Letting out a too relieved sounding sigh, Chara brushed their hair out of their face before frowning. Why was their face wet…? And how were they feeling it…?

It took Chara a moment to realize someone had stopped in front of their rib cage, but once they noticed Chara looked up, seeing their Mother standing outside. Her rib cage was more transparent than others (rather see-through), and Chara didn’t know if that was because Copper had faith in Mom, or if moving around degraded it.

At first Mom stared at the rib cage surrounding them in confusion, probably wondering why Copper had summoned one on nothing when suddenly Mom let out a startled gasp, drawing Chara’s attention to their beloved Mom.

Mom looked like she was looking straight at them, but that was impossible—

“Chara?” Mom whispered, reaching towards them, shocking Chara to their core.

Chara sucked in air, eyes wide in disbelief ~~and hope~~. **Mom?**

And because clearly it was Chara’s typical luck and something out there clearly hated them and demanded that all of Chara’s plans and hopes get screwed in some fashion, a chunk of debris crashed through the barrier around Mom, shattering it and landing right on Mom’s head at that moment.

 **NO!** Chara screamed rushing forward and out of the rib cage barrier.

They went right through Mom, but that didn’t stop them from trying to reach her. They had witnessed her die countless times but there was always the knowledge that it was temporary. But that was no longer the case, this was a timeline where Pearl and Black never came, their powers had been removed with the change. Mom could die and stay dead.

**Mom! Move, please!**

The damned turtle came over, checking Mom, the Parsnik came over as well and between the two of them hauled Mom out, Chara following behind.

“She alright?”

“Crack on the head. Looks though that the barrier took the brunt of that piece.”

“Gerson… about Ivory-”

“Later, Savita. Please. We still have people to get out of here.”

As if to prove his point, the building let out a deep broken groan, dust falling around them like murdered victims.

Once out from under the building Chara breathed easier, stopping when the turtle and Parsnik cleared the buildings area, turtle examining Mom again.

Had Chara imagined her seeing them?

They stayed by Mom as the adults rushed around, children crying and people hugging their loved ones.

Now that they weren’t under there they could think clearly. Why had the building fall? And why did Copper Soul decide to try and save everyone? She had made it clear that survival was her main motivation. Black Soul might have saved these people, if they thought of it as a mission, Pearl would have if only to get people to owe them. What was her motivation?

“Gerson, there should be only a few left now.”

“I’ll go get them and Ivory. Keep them calm, Savita.”

The turtle rushed back to the entrance into that death trap. For a moment Chara stalled, not wanting to back in there. _You are the only one who can go in there and walk out. You can do this, that dumb Copper Soul probably needs you to hold her hand getting out._ With a deep gulp Chara re-entered, following the turtle back to where Copper.

The Turtle had the last few survivors, but had stopped in front of Copper, who was as still as a statue.

“Ivory, we got everyone else out. Will those those constructs hold long enough for you to get out?”

When they didn’t immediately respond Chara floated close to them, taking in the wrecked looking skeleton in the torn and dusty robe.

**Hey, you still alive?**

A pained moan was barely audible.

**Oh good, you’re still breathing. He wants to know if you can get out before the building crushes you.**

The turtle called her name again, the skeleton wheezing out,  “Ye-es. Go.”

The turtle looked like he wanted to disagree, but grabbed the wounded near him and left, leaving Copper as the last living thing underneath the building.

For a moment Chara looked around, frowning. How was Copper getting out? They voiced this question and got an oddly chunky laugh for it.

 “Not.”

**Not…what?**

“Not gettin’ out.” Copper slurred.

Chara didn’t understand. **But… you have to. You made a contract**.

“S’rry.” She said, not very sorry sounding at all.

 **I don’t understand. You… are you just going to let yourself die?** That didn’t make sense.

“Hm.”

Running a hand through their hair, Chara felt angry. No, that was too gentle a word for what they were feeling. Rage, rage was a better word. **But-but I need you.** ~~You still have value.~~ **I can’t break that barrier by myself!** ~~I can’t break it at all!~~ **What about whats-his-face, your brother?!** ~~Doesn’t he matter anymore?~~ **Aren’t you going to save him?!** ~~Why? WHY?!~~ **_WHY ARE YOU GIVING UP??!_** _~~HOW DARE YOU, I THOUGHT YOU WERE BETTER THAN THIS!~~_

They hadn’t meant to lose their cool, but damnit they had thought Copper Soul at least wasn’t a quitter!

A rumble filled the air, and Chara flinched at the sound, reminding them that they were in what was effectively a tomb.

“Void.” Copper croaked out.

That stopped Chara short. **What are you going on about now?**

The rumble got louder, filled along with the sound of cracking. The hair on Chara’s neck stood up as they recognized the sound as bones cracking.

“Void. Go.”

What was she on about? **You are not making sense!**

“Void. Go. You safe there.”

One of the main pillars broke, putting strain on the others and Chara fought to not cry again.

“Please go. Be safe.” Copper sounded like she was pleading.

 **You know I can’t die again.** they tried to sound smug but fell utterly short.

The right socket sputtered before snuffing out, many of the smaller bones dissipating with it. Copper was struggling to speak.

“You’re still a kid. Adults like me protect kids, even if they’re ghosts. So, shut up and get yourself somew’ere safe, Chara.”

A static filled Chara’s ears, staring in disbelief—

A thunderous roar resounded out, multiple bones snapping under the weight of the building. Dust billowed throughout the air, as the building continued back on its course downwards.

**I̷v͟or͞y O̵şt̷ein̶̕**

**LV: 1̡  
**

**H͢P: 2/10  
**

**AT: ̡0  
**

**DF͞:͟ 5,863**

**Sḫ̫̥̲̤ͭè ̄̏̾̇ͣͅc̈́̋ͫͣ̾aͩ̾͑řͩ̔e̪̠̼̦s͈̱̗͕̟̜ͯ ͬ̈́̉ab͚͂̀̉̄ͅo̹̠͙̟̐̓u͔͙̪̱̪ͥ̇ť̫̞̞̳̫͈ͦ̿ͅ ͔ͧ͛̈́y͉̫͕͖̆̈̊o̲̝͉̮̥͕uͭͦ̃͋͑̽̚,̫͈̔̈ͧ ̯̼̊̏́̏â̯͚̩ͣ̎ṋ̳̘̖̥̭̏d͖̲̼͈̲͙͙ͬ͗̅ ͎̼͎̹̥̜̣͆ẁ̞͎͕̤͔͇͗ͅa̹͍ͨͥ̽n̆͌̌t̓͆̾̂̚s̤͚̱̥̪͎̈́̈͐ ̗̼̼̾̎͋̿̔y̰̭o̮̱̦͉̎̾ṵ̪̖̭͕̦̄ ̥̖̩̰̭̈ͦ̓͌͆t̬̩̎̌o̩͎͉̝̰ͯ̍̂̓ ̘̹̼͍͇͈̳́̍͛b͓̪̘̟͒ͭ̅ͤͮe̝̥̙̞̟ͦ̐ ̩͇̬̟͚̃ͧͅs̹̦͑̋̇̆̂a̜̖̣̞̹̙ͬ̎ͅf̦̺̠̭̪͂̉̑̆̀̚e͌̀̏ͅ.̤̺̌ ̯͓͈̩̟͔̝̏̉̽̉ͦ̔**

 

 “VOID NOW CHARA!” the skeleton screamed, the world shaking around them. Copper let out a push of magic that hit Chara hard, and Chara impulsively reached out and grabbed Copper’s soul, dragging both of them into the Void.

The silence of the Void was deafening after being trapped under that building. Chara struggled to compose themselves, breathing in and out in measured tones. They were safe. Nothing could harm them in the Void. They were in control.

 **I am in control.** They whispered like a mantra. They repeated this several times, taking a calming breath each time. Finally, they calmed down enough to think clearly.

How had that happened? As far as Chara knew, that building was still standing in the looped timeline.

 **Not now, we’ll go searching for answers later.** They muttered, shaking their head from the event they just ~~survived~~ went through.

Chara looked at Copper, wincing. Copper looked like wreck, sockets empty of all light. Hell, Copper looked like an actually dead human skeleton instead of a monster one. Summoning her soul, Chara couldn’t help but curse.

The beating was sluggish, the copper having darkened to a murky brown, the white grayish.

Inhaling deeply, Chara held out a hand making a grabby motion. A light twinkled in the Void rushing towards them. Soon an amber colored soul that looked battered and slightly deformed was in their hand.

With great care and focus, Chara gently brought the dissected soul close to Copper’s intact one. Then with careful precision they allowed them to barely touch before pulling it away, staring in trepidation at Copper’s.

The muddy brown rippled where the other soul touch, the color brightening as it rippled further, until the natural copper tone was back, not as bright as before but definitely there, the grey turning whiter.

Chara sighed in relief, chucking the amber soul back into the Void.

Copper was safe for now, though when she would wake up Chara didn’t know. That had been taxing for both of her body and soul.

Something moved in the corner of Chara’s eye. Instincts took over and a blade materialized into their hand as they whipped around, smile wide on their face, toothy and threatening, with red eyes melting into black dripping pools of ichor that ran down their face.

**Leave, now. I don’t have the patience for your games.**

He ignored them, looking in curiosity at Copper. **{ I thought you learned your lesson about bringing those creatures into our world?}**

**It’s different this time! She can free them!**

**{Isn’t that what you said about the last two?}** He asked, sounding skeptical.

**This one’s proven she’s better than them and she _will_ break the barrier. Now leave!**

The forgotten monster stared at them for a moment before fading into the Void, but not without some parting words.

**{ I'm curious to see what will happen this time. It is bound to be very, very interesting.}**

Chara exhaled shakily. _He_ hadn’t tried to make contact since they screwed up by bringing the last two Outworlders.

Chara didn’t know much about him, except he and a handful of others had somehow gotten in the Void and scattered they’re souls across the Void. Mr. Goopie (as Chara tended to call him due to the fact that sometimes when they ran into each other he would start to melt) was the most put together of them, and from what they could tell he had somehow retained his mind where the others had lost theirs.

He never interfered and rarely talked to them, but something about him made Chara want to preemptively attack him with the way he tended to stare as though he was eviscerating you with sight alone.

Shaking off the feeling of the encounter, Chara looked back at Copper. They looked less human corpse-like, but still looked kinda dead.

Glowering Chara reach for the soul, shaking it.

 **I̸vory ̕Ost̸ein͜** **͢**

 **L͠V:̨ ̶ ~~1~~** **̡**

**HP:̢ 0.͜5/̴2̛**

**AT͡:̸ 0̷** **  
**

**DF͘:͜ ͡1͏3** **  
**

**She won'͡t̷  intent̷ionally h̵u̧r͘t͢ y̨o͏u͟,̛ C͟h̶ara.**

Instincts screeched and Chara moved out of the way, barely missed getting hit by… a wing?

When did…? Oh. Right. That tended to happen when you use other souls to jump start Outworlders.

  **So that’s your involuntary defense?** Chara inquired, though one look at Copper was enough for them to know she wasn’t doing this intentionally. Copper’s sockets were blazing with light, and they didn’t seem entirely aware of her surroundings, still in defense mode. Something similar happened to Black Soul when Chara had to pretty much restart them… though their involuntary defense took the forms of dogs.

 **Okay, I’m going to send you back now. Don’t die.** Chara said, picking a spot near the people so Copper got medical attention.

She blipped out, and Chara stared at the spot for a moment, frowning.

_(You’re still a kid. Adults like me protect kids, even if they’re ghosts.)_

_(She cares about you, and wants you to be safe.)_

_(She won’t intentionally hurt you, Chara.)_

**Ludicrous** , Chara murmured, moving away to figure out what exactly happened in the living to cause that building to fall.

~~They ignored the way their stomach churned, a tendril of guilt going through them as Copper’s words and stats echoed through their head.~~

 

* * *

 

Gerson was cursing himself for not staying behind. Ivory had looked terrible, and he didn’t want to think what mental barrier she had to have shattered to delve that deep to call up that kind of power. He had been knocked momentarily, before his queen got him back. But in those few minutes Ivory had done the impossible. The people surrounding him were proof of that.

He busied himself with healing, even though the air buzzed with her potent magic. Everyone was on edge due to it, and he didn’t have a bit of an idea how he was going to explain the sensation the Ruin’s residence were experiencing. With Toriel unconscious, Savita had taken charge, though his old friend kept casting him questioning looks.

The ground trembled and a billow of dust and dirt hit them, a resounding crash resonating all around.

Some had managed to cast barriers to combat the smog of dust, Gerson coughing deeply. After a long moment the dust settled, coating everyone in the stuff. Gerson was going to scrub every inch the second he could, feeling sickened at being caked it.

Savita walked to him, a disbelieving smile on his face. “Everyone is accounted for. We didn’t lose anyone.”

At that a cry went out, a hysterical laugh from a Whimsun who started babbling, “We’re alive!”

Soon everyone was crying, laughing or embracing the nearest monster, all overjoyed to be alive.

“Is Ivory…?” A young Loox said, staring at the ruined building. That effectively puncturing the good mood.

For a moment there was silence, though many of the children started to cry.

Gerson soul felt heavy, looking to where Toriel laid. How was he going to tell her-?

“Maybe its for the best she didn’t survive.” A large Loox said, many gasping at her words.

“Exssssssuse you?” Savita hissed, probably for the first time since Gerson had given the position of Keeper to Toriel. If ever there was a way to tell you pissed off a Parsnik, it was if you got them to started hissing.

“I don’t mean to insult the dead, but you all felt her soul. That thing was clearly some kind of deviant!”

The Loox’s words made him flinch, shamed at how similar his words had been to theirs. Others were murmuring, looking unsure. Others looked furious. But all looked like they were trying to forget the feeling of Ivory’s soul.

“We don’t really know anything about her… was she even a monster? No monster has magic that feels like that! What kind of freak-” the Loox didn’t get to say anything more, because one of the other Loox’s proceeded to sock her right in the eye.

“You shut the hell up! You saw what she did! You, me, all of us are only alive because she was willing to die for us! We only had one casualty and it was because she chose to stay behind to make sure we got out!”

Shouts of agreement rang through the dust-covered crowd, looking at the Loox in disdain.

Gerson agreed, but felt he didn’t have the right to voice anything. He knew he should have stayed, she looked barely able to stand, he should have dragged her out—

A strange feeling, like a vacuum sucking in filled the air, silencing the crowd as it the sensation rippled through them before focusing on a point near them. Suddenly a pale copper ball of feathers blipped into existence before them, shimmering. Were those… yes, they were wings.

The wings unfurled, revealing Ivory. She was haloed in white, sockets burning with molten copper and body tense as her soul thrummed loudly. Everyone stared in awe, the children crying her name in joy, those who had been questioning her looking contrite.

It was in that moment Gerson truly realized he had made a great mistake in his judgement of her. She was no monster, no human, not even of this world...

“…She’s the angel.” Gerson whispered, eyes bulging wide at the winged entity before them.

“…Safe?” She slurred, voice cracking.

“Ivory.” Sativa said gently to the entity before them. “We’re safe. We’re all safe. It’s okay. You don’t need to protect us anymore.”

Gerson watched as the coppery wings began to fade, going transparent until they were completely gone, her feet touching the ground. The light burning in her sockets petered out, leaving behind empty holes, the last of her magic waning out. She stood before them, in dust covered robe that was torn and snagged, expressionless in a way that worried the ancient tortoise, though he did breathe easier, the flagrant magic finally gone.

**P _O_ P!**

One of the children began to scream, followed by the others as they pointed to something near Ivory’s feet—

Oh.

Ivory’s wing just popped off.

Before Gerson could properly react, another ‘ **P _O_ P**’ filled the air, her other wing falling to the ground as well.

Suddenly a series of pops rend the air, and for a second nothing happened.

Then Ivory’s head fell off, followed by the rest of her body falling apart into a disjointed pile of bones.

Gerson would deny it to the end of his days that he screamed like a total ninny that day.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a beast to write, like holy shit. Enjoy twenty pages of madness!
> 
> Don't hate on Chara too much, they have their reasons for their actions... and they will eventually warm up to our unfortunate heroine. 
> 
> Poor Ivory, really lost her head there. Could say she fell to pieces.
> 
> Sooooo, I posted this early because I will be visiting family from tomorrow till the 28th, and will not be able to post anything next week. 
> 
> Thank you all for reading this! I'll be back on the 30th!


	23. An Outside Observation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333.  
> Inspired by Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise.  
> I want to do a shout out for Kamari333 and Tyrant_Tortoise, both of who have written incredible works that inspired me. If you have not read their work, go now. You are missing out!

* * *

 

Four days after the building's collapsing saw Toriel tired, sore and drained. She had started acting like a queen again, though it was more because of the calamity that had befallen the Ruins. Half of the Market place was a mass of rubble, several other buildings had their structure’s integrity compromised, the Froggits were beating themselves up for not realizing just how bad the building had gotten and were now combing through every building for more weakened structures, the Loox’s were picking fights over every small thing, emotions were high and messy, and if she wanted to get the place fixed and running in the next few years there was a honest possibility she’d need to request the _King_ for aide.

Yet despite all this, Hope was actually high. Toriel was certain it was mostly due to the fact that even though everything was a mess right now, no one had died. When she had regained her consciousness and had Gerson and Savita tell her what happen after the debris struck her, she hadn’t believed it at first. But it was, there were no deaths.

And it was thanks to the monster who was currently in dozens of pieces in her bedroom.

Ivory hadn’t regained consciousness since she had fallen to pieces. They had to bring her back in bags, Gerson grumbling about how lucky they were that Ivory wore so much clothing because it would have been a pain to collect all of her little bones, like the hand or feet. She understood, especially since one of Ivory’s boots got turned up and all of her bones scattered on the ground.

But Ivory has been, as far as they could tell, recovering. Gerson assured her that she was healing, and Ivory’s bones were slowly attaching again, the hands and feet having already reattached themselves. She just wasn’t waking, which both Gerson and she agreed had most likely been due to her actions in the Market place.

And speaking of Ivory’s actions…

While everyone was happy to be alive, a good deal of the residences was starting to ask questions. Questions she couldn’t answer, questions she didn’t know if anyone had an answer for.

Many had asked what was wrong with Ivory’s magic, some nicer than others in their questioning. While all were happy to be alive, Ivory’s magic made it impossible to forget how it felt to be cocooned in those rib cage constructs, smothered by the magic from all sides as it seeped into you.

Savita had helped fielded these questions, highlighting that strange magic or not Ivory had shown to be of unquestionable character and turning much of their attention into the rebuilding. Toriel was grateful for his aide, but knew they had to have some kind of answer before long, especially since there was a noticeable split in opinions about the skeleton. 

Some were saying she was actually a demon, her magic unable to mask her malicious nature, though mercifully this opinion was a minority. But on the other end of the spectrum...

Apparently Gerson had mention that upon her return that Ivory had resembled an angel, explained to a bunch of the kids and young adults what angel he was talking about, and now there was a growing opinion that Ivory was actually the Angel who would free them all. 

Toriel had to step down on that, feeling that Ivory would not like the comparison, seeing how the skeleton for some reason hated her wings and most forms of attention. The only thing that everyone was agreeing on, was that Ivory had bizarre magic and that she used it to save them all from certain death.

“I guess we are lucky in this, my queen.” Gerson had stated, sitting across from her during his break. “If Ivory’s magic _had_ to came out, then it came out in the best possible way. No one can say she is evil, not after nearly killing herself to keep them safe.”

Gerson himself had been healing those who had been wounded during the collapse and looked a little worn down, yet he insisted he hadn't felt this spry in centuries.

He had though discovered something curious while healing. Everyone who had been injured (which frankly, was nearly everyone) had a unusual boost in their hope, including her and the ancient healer. It explained why everyone was feeling more hopeful, but not why or how the boost happened in the first place.

Toriel would bet her prized cinnamon and butterscotch pie recipe that it had something to do with the miasma of magic Ivory unleashed.

Toriel had known Ivory's soul was a mess, abnormal... alien. Knew this, yet hadn't considered the possibilities of Ivory having a colored soul, too busy seeing it as damaged. Colored souls were considered dangerous for a reason, seeing how even the most unmotivated of humans could cause a wide amount of damage if forced into it. Gerson had told her that Ivory's soul may cause unseen long term effects on the residence, no matter how benign her use of it was. At the moment though, it would seem that as terrible feeling as her magic was, Ivory's magic had in fact boosted everyone's Hope. How or why this had happened her old friend could not answer.

But that was a problem for another day. Right now she needed to get out there, move debris, aide those who need it and keep people moving.

She could do this just fine, feeling oddly filled with determination.

 

* * *

 

Chara was beginning to get really angry and worried about Azzy. Scratch that, they wanted to deck him and ask if he needed help, the latter feeling starting to become more dominate as they watched.

Reviewing the memories was not something Chara did often. Usually they just used it to ease others into chatting with them, just like what they did to make Copper Soul feel safer by conjuring her ugly little kitchen when they renegotiated the contract.

And what they were seeing was Azzy destroying the foundation of that building, letting it fall. While that ticked them off, it was his reaction to Copper’s magic that caught their attention.

He looked like he could _feel_ it.

Chara followed him as he escaped, finding him in Snowdin. He had popped up near the entrance into the Ruins, gasping and crying, desperately smacking his head into the snow as though he was trying to ground himself. A sob-like scream left his mouth and he went back into the ground, only to pop up by a tree and to Chara’s confused shock proceeded to beat his head into the wood.

“Stop.”

**SMACK**

“Stop.”

**SMACK**

“Stop it!”

**SM _A_ CK**

“STOP IT!”

**_SMACK!_ **

For a moment he swayed, as though he was about to lose consciousness, panting heavily. Then with a furious scream he renewed his efforts, bashing his head against the tree.

“MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT _STOP! **MAKE IT GO AWAY**!”_

Then he threw his head back, a scream of agony wrenching its way out of him as he clawed at his own face with a pair of leaves that was acting like a pair of hands, looking for all the world like he was possessed.

The fact his eyes were literally burning with copper lights only added to this image.

Chara swiped the air, banishing the memory.

With a shaky exhale they sought out Copper Soul, the haunting image of their brother’s scream and glowing eyes stamped into the back of their head.

 

* * *

 

A long time ago, his predecessor had told him that the definition of insanity was ‘Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results’. He could understand that, he could. It could even apply to what his Monarch’s adopted human was doing with that Outworlder.

But he had always been a monster of science, and sometimes you had to do the same thing over and over again to truly understand why or how it did what it did. And once you had that figured out, you could safely add a new variable to the equation to see if the results had changed.

Take the Outworlder specimen for example. On the surface, it looked like the dead royal child was repeating their earlier actions by dragging another one of those _things_ across the Void and dumping them onto the unsuspecting populace, ready to induce anarchy and mass genocide.

But the royal brat had changed the variables, even though they only did to weaken the Outworlder. The previous Outworlders had still been human children and in full control of their bodies, and were given little to no boundaries, and any parent could tell you that children needed boundaries, humans more so than any other race. This new one had been stripped of its humanity, emotional barrier, and understanding of what it knew about its body.

He had watched, expecting the newly transformed monster to wreak havoc as soon as they could (if only to stop itself from going mad from the events it had endured), yet they did not. In fact, it had showed a level of self-control he didn’t think was actually possible from a human.

Then it proceeded to save the residence of the Ruins, and at a deep personal cost.

He had not anticipated that and found himself curious about the Outworlder-souled monster. Had it developed compassion due to no longer being in a human body?

For the first time in Angel only knows how long, he was interested in the actions of someone on the other side. So much in fact, that he was now using one of the Voids lesser known traits to review events that have already happened, echoes of memories, to review previous actions of this specimen.

As he reviewed these fragments, he was struck with a realization about the specimen.

All previous humans (his world and the Outworlder combined) had been children. This one though? A _fully-grown adult_.

That might explain the sheer size of the power it displayed while rescuing the residents, and from what he could tell, why it had self-control. It had also consistently showed a protective streak for others, most notably towards children. Maternal instincts perhaps? It was after all female, in both it's current and past forms.

Another thing he found curious from the memories was that it apparently knew the royal brat from before its transformation, as well as others which concerned him. He wasn’t able to view into the Outworlder’s world like the brat could, so he couldn’t find _how_ they knew, or _who_ it knew.

That last one worried him the most. Even though he has been erased he still had precious people on the other side that he treasured and wanted to keep safe. He could hardly do anything when the human Frisk was out as a meat-puppet, and he had no idea if he could do anything now either… though the memories had given him a surprising – and frankly terrifying – possibility.

Apparently, the specimen could entire the Void… and leave.

At first, he was excited at the possibility, at least until he discovered that the specimen was _guessing_ at it.

It had taken him countless tries and head melting amount of quantum physics to even begin to figure out how to take a (to quote someone dear to him) “short cut”, and this _thing_ had done it purely on _accident._

And to add insult to injury, it was getting close to figuring out how to do it again at will.

The gall that creature had was extraordinary.

But if he could actually get it to meet him, inside the Void—

A whimper drew his attention away, the impassive countenance melting into a kinder one. One of the Forgotten was close by. It didn’t take him long to spot them, curled up and quietly sobbing.

 **{There, there little one.}** He said gently, moving towards the being. He knew this one, they were put together than most of the others, though he wasn’t sure if they had always been armless or if their limbs had fragmented within this place.

Like most of the Forgotten, the Void had bleached them of their color, eyes pupil-less as they stared at him in sadness. He tenderly held them, letting them seek the comfort they desperately needed. A few feet away he watched as others slowly made their way towards him, looking desperate for something to ease their existence.

Cradling the smaller being, he turned back to the memories, banishing them for the time being. He’d review them later when his followers were feeling better. He had plenty of time for that later, but for now, these fragmented people needed him.

 

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Yay!
> 
> In this chapter Chara is seeing what happens when you overdose a soulless Flowey on feels, Toriel is oddly determined, and Ivory has gained a unknown stalker!
> 
> Next up, someone comes up with a theory about Ivory's magic! Ivory awakens to most of her body gone! Sans has a list and a... guest (lets go with guest)!


	24. Effects

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333.  
> Inspired by Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise.  
> I want to do a shout out for Kamari333 and Tyrant_Tortoise, both of who have written incredible works that inspired me. If you have not read their work, go now. You are missing out!

 

* * *

 

 

Savita the Parsnik didn’t have an easy life. Being the son of a couple who had lived on the surface before imprisonment had meant he had parents that were chronically sad and with low hope, as many pre-barrier parents were. Both fell down and dust when he had been fairly young, resulting in him striving to stay optimistic no matter what, so he left the Ruins, going to live in Hotland. He had met his husband, a Pyrope, while in school, married soon after graduation, and before the year was out, they had a sweet child who took after his husband. He had been so happy, probably the highest his hope had ever been.

Then, the day before their child was to go off to school, there was a cave-in and he watched as both his beloved husband and kid were dusted.

He… he didn’t remember the next couple of decades after and was numb to all feeling.

He didn’t even remember getting to the Ruins, or apparently falling near the Keeper’s house. Gerson had been the Keeper at the time and had somehow managed to nurse him back to health, got him a support group in the form of distant relatives like the Vegetoids, and slowly over time Savita regained hope, though his soul kept the cracks, even if they were not as deep as they were.

Even after nearly four centuries he still felt the act and emptiness his family had left, but he had gotten better, he still had loved ones, he even found love again!

But it was with this loss that made it easy for him to understand Ivory’s pain. She and the former Queen were tight-tipped about what had happened to her family, but he had a working imagination and experience to draw from and speculate, but also lots of tact to never ask.

But now he was starting to wonder if her family got caught in whatever made Ivory’s magic feel like _that_ … and If the Royal Scientist was involved in the skeleton’s unpleasant feeling magic.

It was something those that had lived in Hotland have been talking about and being retold to the other’s who have not left the Ruins, due to the lack of answers over Ivory’s magic.

Despite the many great advantages they had made (including the Core), there were always rumors about the morality of every Royal Scientists, having been stemmed from the actions the first Royal Scientist that was appointed when the monsters were first imprisoned. That one had not handled the imprisonment well and rumor had it that the incarceration of their whole race had warped their soul, twisting them. People had started to disappear, entire families, and eventually it was discovered that the Royal Scientist had been kidnapping and experimenting on the populace, trying to create something from their souls that could break the barrier. They were caught and executed for their crimes and the next one appointed Royal Scientist was kept under close surveillance, as was the next one after. Story had it those that had survived the first Royal Scientist experimentation had never been the same, with souls that left an odious magic.

These were all rumors and stories, local folklores told in the Hotland when he had been in school and had apparently persisted till today.

He wasn’t the sort to put stock into unproven rumors, but even he was beginning to wonder if the skeleton’s magic unnatural presence (and frankly insane power) was the result of her surviving a Scientist (or a quack scientist) whose morals were overly loose.

And he wasn’t the only one thinking that, though it was hardly the only theory.

Many of those who knew what Ivory had done were trying to figure out the secret behind her nebulous magic, some thinking that the loss of her family warped it completely, or that she had died and was brought back to life which caused her soul to mutate, there was that group that was maintaining that she was the Angel come to free them all, and a very small amount theorized that she was actually from another world dragged into this one by supernatural means in order to save them all. And then there was the group that wanted Ivory banished from the Ruins, though the Eyewalker’s had been mercilessly hounding them.

Nonetheless, Savita was keeping things peaceful until they got their answer, an answer that by the looks of things they would only be getting once Ivory came to. Savita was fine with not knowing, but a lot of the residents were anxious for some kind of explanation.

Regardless of what it is though Savita would support Ivory, and if push comes to shove, he could give her names of people who could help her find a home (and should she desire, an undisclosed one that allowed her to remain anonymous) beyond the Ruins.

 

* * *

 

Chara was beginning to wonder about the effects of Outworlder magic had on monster souls… and soulless vessels.

Because even though Flowey was Azzy and Azzy was Flowey, Azzy was their crybaby but beloved brother where Flowey was still him but soulless vessel. They knew he was still in there, his God of Hyperdeath form and his actions after the Pacifist Routes were proof he was.

But right now, Flowey resembled Azzy when he was begging them not to go through with their ~~suicide~~ plan. Tearful, eyes pleading and looking as though he was in agony.

Though he never tried to mutilate himself before, that was new and highly worrying.

He has been like this for several days now, trying to tear his own head off before rendering himself unconscious from the abuse.

 Azzy was found and had been placed in a vice-hold contraption in a glass jar to keep him from trying to crush his head, and Chara would have felt better about this if they were sure that Sans the Skeleton had altruistic reasons for saving Flowey and stashing him in his workshop.

But they couldn’t rescue him, and Sans wasn’t doing anything but asking questions while Azzy was semi-coherent, mostly asking was what was going on in the Ruins and why he was a mess and if he knew why they gone back a year, and not getting any answers due to Azzy being a babbling mess.

This did let Chara know that the smiling trash bag came back with them, and out of everyone who had come back he was probably the most out of the loop, and he looked really stressed about it. Enough to apparently motivate him and go out seeking answers.

Chara was willing to let him stay stressed as long as he didn’t try any experiments.

Currently they were watching Azzy in his glass cage, currently unconscious.

They had been alternating between Azzy and I-Copper Soul, checking on both. The skeleton had apparently fallen to pieces shortly after they dropped her back though she was pulling herself back together but had not regained consciousness, so Chara decided to leave her be and stick by Azzy for now ~~and ignore seeing the human who was making them feel things they did not want to confront and to not see Mom because she couldn’t see them at all~~.

“No...please… stop, I’m sorry…”

 **Awwww, not again.** Chara muttered, floating next to the cage.

“…stop, please, stop…”

Looking around, Chara sighed as they noticed that Sans wasn’t around.

 **Oh, come on. Azzy, stop it!** They said, swiping through Azzy.

Or at least they meant to go through, but instead actually made contact and smacked him. Chara froze staring at the hand still on him. Azzy stopped talking, stopped moving. Slowly they he pressed into Chara’s hand, not going through it. A shutter went through him and he turned towards them, a copper glow in his eyes.

“Chara…? How?”

 **You can see me.** Chara breathed, looking shocked and not daring to remove their hand.

“Your dead…how? Oh Stars, what is that skeleton’s magic doing to me?!” He cried, copper colored tears leaking down his face.

“I’m seeing things! Stop please! I’m sorry!”

 **Azzy! I’m here, you’re not hallucinating! I- _Copper_   Soul’s magic is just screwy and weird!** Chara exclaimed, thoughts racing. Did that mean Mom _had_ seen them? Chara never interacted with people while working with Black and had only seen how Outworlder magic effected people with intent to harm. Did Copper Soul’s magic allow them to interact with others? Did her soul cause changes in monsters?

Was something happening to the residents of the Ruins?

“…copper soul? You mean the…. the winged skeleton?” Azzy slurred, looking morose.

 **Yeah. I brought her here to break the barrier-** Chara cut themselves off, reminding themselves this wasn’t the Azzy they knew.

“…you brought her..? Where did you bring her from, the void?!” Azzy snarled at them, face splitting into a nasty gash.

 **Uhhh, no?** Chara replied, a little thrown at his sudden shift of attitude. He looked at them noting the unsure tone of their answer, blinked several times before tears well back in his eyes.

“Oh Stars, you _did!_ She’s some kind of void creature! You brought a _thing_ from the void!”

**No, I didn’t! I mean, yeah, I made her body there but-**

“You _made_ her body?! How did you make a body- _holy shit_.”

 **What now?** Chara said, agitated by his continual shift in emotion. Was that because of Copper Soul’s magic?

“Holy shit, I'm an uncle.” He whispered… and then promptly started cackling, freaking Chara suitably out. He kept cackling to the point it looked like it hurt, like he couldn’t stop no matter what. Chara removed their hand, about to tell him to stop and deny the parent claim when the laughing suddenly turned into shrieking.

“NO! CHARA! DON’T GO! PLEASE, DON’T GO! IT HURTS, CHARA! IT HURTS TO FEEL! MAKE IT STOP!!” Azzy screamed, looking maniacally as he stared at them, trying to tug closer to them as the coppery tears went brighter as his face shifted into multiple different types of faces.

“ ** _CHARA_**!”

Chara fled.

 

* * *

 

After a week of unearthing rubble, comforting those who _had_ and _had not_ been in the disaster, and finally finishing the estimation of what would be needed to fix the market place, Toriel had good news, and bad news.

The good news is that everyone was fully healed and the boost in everyone’s Hope was still there and was showing no signs of going down. 

The bad news was that she had ran the numbers and if she wanted the marketplace up and running in the next year, she was going to need aide from aide from outside the Ruins…. Which meant she was going to need to contact _Asgore_.

She had rough drafted several letters to send but had to throw them away because the first one had started with ‘Gorey, you child-murdering beast’ and really didn’t improve her intro over the next few. Gerson had offered to talk to Asgore when he went back, and Toriel thanked him.

Now here she was at home, drinking tea as Gerson had once more gone out for last minute healing. She hadn’t even gone to her patrols, having been so swamped. But things were finally starting to look up.

Now if only Ivory would wake up…

Toriel sighed, downing her tea with some alcohol that a couple of Whimsun's had brought as 'thank you for saving us', having given a bottle to her,Gerson and Ivory. In fact the Whimsun's community had brought so much alcohol she was planning on sending it with Gerson when he left (she would of course be asking Ivory for permission, as most of these were gifted to her).

Ivory's magic had become a common subject between her and Gerson, both trying to come up with a valid reason behind it for the residents while trying to make sense of it on their own. If she thought for a moment Ivory wouldn't be treated as a experiment, she would have asked the Royal Scientist to come and have a look at it.

When Ivory had fallen and her subsequent timid reaction to everyone and compete and total lack of control over her feelings, Toriel had treated her as a young monster who had been displaced, having somehow forgotten just how dangerous colored souls could get and that a good part of Ivory’s soul was human and hadn’t considered the kind of powers Ivory might tap when push comes to shove.

Gerson theorized that what they had tested Ivory, she must have either been holding back unintentionally or faking, and they had both agreed she hadn’t been faking. Gerson had also theorized that Ivory's Attacks would always be cripplingly low due to her innate desire to cause no harm to others, something she agreed with... as they had both agreed that Defense was more than likely going to be Ivory's main focus, if her actions in the market place meant anything.

She shuddered at the memory of the power display Ivory had showed in the marketplace. It had been both incredible and terrifying, but mostly terrifying.

And her power had frightened a lot of people, and there was a loud opinion that Ivory should leave the Ruins, even from those who were thankful of her saving them and knew she was a good person. Savita and The Eyewalker family had been staunchly on Ivory’s side, with the new group that was calling themselves ‘The Angel’s Aegis’ Club who were a group of people who actually believed Gerson’s story about the angel. Toriel only left them alone because it was actually helping Ivory in this instance.

Ivory had saved everyone, but the magic had caused issues as had the lack of answers. No one faulted Ivory for her actions, many saying it was proof of her heroic nature, but there were those who wanted Ivory out of the Ruins because of both the feeling her magic left and the raw power she displayed, both having been petrifying to witness.

Toriel set her echoflower-whisky laced tea aside, looking back over the papers Evah Eyewalker had brought over earlier. The young mother had been very stern and no nonsense when she had dropped by, stating that she needed to know when Ivory would be up as soon as possible to discuss the possibility of Ivory getting adopted into the Eyewalker family.

Adoption in the Underground wasn’t an unusual thing, but the adoption of an adult was. When Toriel had inquired the reason behind this and Evah had huffed, stating she had three reasons for it.

First being that the family owed her their lives, seeing how nearly the entire family had been there at the market and the Patriarch (Evah’s grandfather) would be honored to call her his daughter. Second, they wanted to give her a family to come home to (but not to replace, Evah had stressed that part clearly). And Third, to protect Ivory from backlash due to those that wanted to have her move from the Ruins because as Evah stated, if Ivory got kicked out the entire Eyewalker family was following after her.

The front door opened and closed, Gerson walking into sight not too soon after. He sighed in relief as he sat down, looking at his queen.

“How was it?” Toriel asked, sipping her 'tea'. Gerson let out a mighty groan, digging out one of the fire-brandy's and drinking it straight from the bottle.

“I think I got hounded more over questions about Ivory’s magic than I did for injuries.”

“Well, at least the injuries aren’t an issue anymore.”

“At least not outside of this home. Trying to draft another letter to the king?”

“Actually, no. Evah Eyewalker had stopped by to hand me this hand made invitation to her family dinner next week, as well as a formal request of adoption. For Ivory.”

The tortoise blinked, looking surprised. “Ivory is no child.”

“No, but the Eyewalker family have made it pretty clear they see her as family. And frankly, the Eyewalker family has been around a long time and are well known even outside of the Ruins. Ivory could benefit greatly from it.”

“But do you think Ivory would go for the adoption?” The ancient tortoise asked.

Before she could reply a soul-curdling scream broke the air, causing Toriel and Gerson to jump.

Ivory-!

Toriel was down the hall before she was even truly aware of it, 'tea' knocked to the floor in her hurry. She nearly ripped the door off its hinges with enough force that had she not been worried she might have been a little impressed, but before she could cross the doors threshold Gerson yanked her back, hissing, “Careful! The floor!”

She looked down, just in time to see one of Ivory’s hands skittering across the floor. The entire rib cage was rolling back and forth on the floor in jerky motions, and before she could properly understand what she was seeing the rest of Ivory’s bones had dropped to the floor, jumping, hopping and twitching in every direction.

Only Ivory’s head stayed on the bed, though it was hopping up and down as the skeleton kept screaming. Toriel managed to get to the bed, picking the shrieking skull up until it was level with her face.

“Ivory! Ivory, calm down! Your safe!”

It took some time to calm her down, but eventually Toriel managed. Once calmed, Ivory just stared at her, looking stricken and her familar magic tinging the air with genuine horror.  Ivory finally spoke, in a hysteria tinged voice.

“Oh god, I’m Yorick now. I don’t wanna be Yorick! Alas poor me! I knew me well!”

And then the poor girl fell into a blubbering sob.

 _Oh this was going to be one of those days,_ Toriel thought as she patted the skull in a manner meant to be comforting.

 

* * *

 

 Before the memories started reemerged, he had intended to help in the usual off-handed way he had dealt with Frisk and Chara, theorizing that it would be pointless to try and stop Frisk’s return or to try and do anything, even if they were so much farther back than he ever had been.

Then several things happened and now… now he knew he couldn’t afford to not care anymore.

Sans was looking through his old files as well as the ones he “borrowed” from the Royal Archive, marking down the dates that the humans had all fallen down on, from the first to the one before Frisk.

Something wasn’t adding up.

First and most obvious, the timeline had resettled way farther back than it had ever done. That should have been enough to get him off his coccyx.

Two, Toriel had a new ward. Originally, he thought it must have been the sixth human, but the records state that they had fallen nearly thirty years ago. Again, he should have done more on figuring who this new person was.

Exhibit C, the younger generation of monsters, like the ones born in the last century, were recalling the timelines, and its variations, with more clarity than they had ever been able to. Mercifully Papyrus hadn’t had any ‘déjà vu’ memories like the others were experiencing, though there were a noticeable number of them (mostly from Snowdin and Waterfall) that had to abort calling his brother “Your Majesty”.

He was just grateful his brother hadn't caught on to that, because it would have been hellava confusin' conversation.

Then the fourth issue arose in the form of Flowey, who he had discovered about three days ago, and was mentally a mess from the self-inflicted head trauma. _Repeated_ self-inflicted head trauma, to the point Sans had to make him a flower-straitjacket. 

Under normal circumstances Sans would have probably been amused at seeing that damn weed beat his head into a tree, except that the flower had been emitting… _something_. It _felt_ like magic, yet there was something _clearly_ wrong with it, and it waft off the weed like some kind of miasmatic cloud until he successfully either cried or rendered himself unconscious.

Sans had taken the unresponsive flower back to his workshop and placed him in a glass box to observe the strange magic Flowey was leaking, something he would have never done if things were normal.

Except nothing was _adding up_.

Too much had changed, and Sans felt for once like he was completely out of the loop. The memories, the leap back in time, the so-called monster ward of Toriel, and one of the Undergrounds’ more prolific lunatics out for the count and by his own hand/leaf? Its almost like the loop had gotten broken!

Or, if his theory was correct, an alternate timeline had somehow happened.

A moan filled the air, causing the skeleton to groan before looking at the glass cage.

Flowey had been in and out of consciousness, that wrong feeling magic leaking off him every time he got too awake, and it almost looked like the magic was forcibly keeping Flowey under. The last time he was awake was about six hours ago, when Sans walked in to him screaming for Chara. It was also the only time Sans could talk to him, though perhaps talking wasn’t the right word, seeing how when Flowey was awake, he babbled, mostly about trying to stop something.

“I’m sorry… please stop it…”

Like now.

Sighing, Sans stopped his reading to look at the curled-up flower who was muttering again, body shaking. Sans gently tapped the glass, hoping to get his attention.

“hey pal? i can’t help ya if you ain’t makin’ sense. can ya try and tell me what happened?” So far it hasn’t worked, but what bits he had gotten indicated that something had happened in the Ruins. He tried calling Gerson, but he got an automatic ‘This number is no longer in service’, which was very, very worrying.

“Stop… no more… Chara… Chara, why…”

Sans sighed, pinching his nasal bridge. The normally chatty flower was currently a mess. What happened to him?

“…what did she do to me… Chara, what did she do to me…”

That was new. Leaning forward, Sans tried his luck with getting a straight answer from the distressed monster. “she? she who?”

For the first time since he found him Sans got a clear view of Flowey face, and Sans immediately summoned a small Blaster as that miasmic sensation bled into the air.

Flowey’s eyes were dripping magic that looked like molten copper, dissipating before it hit the ground but leaving tracts in his face that made it look like he was crying lava.

“… the copper soul…”

Taking a deep shuddering breath, Flowey curled back into himself, shaking. He then said something that froze the dust in Sans bones, his near perma-smile dropping.

“…Chara’s Daughter…”

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm running late, there has been personal issues.
> 
> Please enjoy the mental image of Ivory being held like a Shakespearean prop, the possibility of Flowey calling Ivory his niece to her face, Sans continual horror with this timeline.... and while your at it, picture Frisk loudly wondering if this makes Goat-Mom a GILF (what? It means Grandma I'd Like to Fan-doodle, I swear! 😁).


	25. Entry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333.  
> Inspired by Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise.  
> I want to do a shout out for Kamari333 and Tyrant_Tortoise, both of who have written incredible works that inspired me. If you have not read their work, go now. You are missing out!

* * *

Entry 5:

it has been five days since i found flowey, two since he started stringing full sentences back together, though this only happens when he’s talking about “chara’s daughter” and her “copper soul”. i am skeptical to trust what he is saying, but between the changes occurring and the weird stuff he keeps oozing i’m not discounting anything yet. what i do know is that apparently there is a new person (female by the consistent pronoun flowey uses) in the ruins who had fallen from the surface and is reeeeeally reluctant to leave the ruins… and they have a very, very unpleasant feeling magic ~~boy is that an understatement~~.

one thing that he has been saying is that this “daughter” was the one who put him in this condition, though not why she did this to him. knowing the weed he probably provoked her, though if that was the case i can’t think of anything he could have done to warrant the level of horror she inflicted upon him. not only has she somehow gotten him to “feel” again, but with such an intensity that it is literally driving him insane. its like taking a guy who is dying from thirst and dropping him in a sealed water tank that only has a very small amount of air; yeah he ain’t dyin of thirst anymore but he’s still in danger. and if that wasn’t bad enough he is also literally leaking the most potent magic i have ever encountered and it ain’t even the weirdest thing.

he has also called the new person “copper soul”, and if this is her magic i can see why he calls her that (note to self: figure out if copper is a red or orange colour, or somethin’ in between).

while he was in the middle of leaking the magic, i managed to acquire some. the magic is quick to dissipate so i had to work fast to get a sample. from the samples i managed to acquire, i have discovered that it has approximately a thousand times more determination in it than any human should have, and i am including frisk and chara on that list. i find this _very_ concerning. more samples will be needed to further understand this new anomaly.

for now, i will continue to aide flowey in recovering and trying to get ahold of gerson, who i am still having trouble contacting. i also need to get in the ruins and meet this new person as soon as possible.

anyone who has the ability to make someone like _flowey_ into a compete wreak while emitting such a detrimental-feeling magic is someone i will need to not just keep an eyesocket on, but to CHECK and judge accordingly.

Entry 5.2:

he is changing color. his petals are darker, not as yellow. i think he is actually starting to absorb the magic. i also asked pap what colour copper was. he said it’s a reddish _brown_.

what the _hell_.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> So a lot has happened in my personal life; my Dad was hospitalized but is doing well now, unfortunately he needs a caretaker for now and I have taken over for the time being. Another thing that has happen was that my sister had her baby nearly three months early, which was scary as hell, but she and the baby are fine now.
> 
> In short, I never want to relive February and March of 2019 ever again.
> 
> Due to my family commitments, I will not be able to post as often as I used to though I intend to post at minimum once a month. The chapters length will also fluctuate, with some shorter or longer then average.
> 
> I also want to try and start another story, another Undertale that is predominantly fluff but it'll probably be closer to May before I get to it.
> 
> Thank you all for your patience's and kind words, and I hope you have a great day. Cheers.


	26. Traumas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Welcome To The Underground by Kamari333.  
> Inspired by Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady by Tyrant_Tortoise.  
> I want to do a shout out for Kamari333 and Tyrant_Tortoise, both of who have written incredible works that inspired me. If you have not read their work, go now. You are missing out!

* * *

 

 

_I think I’m creating a pattern,_ you thought a little drolly, helping Toriel bake in the kitchen. _After every major issue that has happened to me since getting here, I have ended up either in the kitchen or dining room. Not that I’m complaining, anything to keep busy right now._

Waking up to most of your body gone and reduced to just a head was without a doubt the most terrifying thing you have ever experienced, including the first time you had fallen down here and discovered you were no longer human. You had a strange empathy towards amputees thanks to that.

You had apparently been out for nearly a week, in literal pieces. Mercifully, being awake and coherent had apparently spurred your body into reattaching itself, and twenty-four hours after you woke up you had pulled yourself together and was now walking by yourself, though you couldn’t stop yourself from grabbing at your neck and other body parts.

Toriel had brought you up to speed about what had happened since you had ~~fA _l_ Le **n** _A_ pa~~ _я_ ~~t~~ lost conscious. There had been no casualties at all (something that made you so happy you tripped over your newly connected feet when she told you that), and that you suffered the worst of the damage (you could live with that, so long as no one else was crippled for life), the market place was going to take a year to rebuild but they had already decided where the temporary one was going to be.

She said there were other news, but they weren’t important at the moment, though she may had said that due to how hard you had been clutching your neck, valiantly ignoring the feeling you had felt before your head was back on, that strange, disembodied sensation of being able to move body parts that weren’t even remotely attached—

_Nope, not gonna focus on that. Count your blessings!_ A voice similar to Nana snapped out before you spiraled back down the terror you had awoken to.

Taking a too deep breath ~~it didn’t bother you as much as it used to~~ you counted your current blessings.

_One, you were back in one-piece_ _ ~~gͦoͪdᵍ ͦdͩamͭnͪ ͣiͭtʷ ͣˢdˢoͦn’ͩtͣ ͫᶰfˢoͨcͣuͬʸs ͭoͦnʷ ͣᵏtͤhaͭtͦ!~~_ _ ~~!~~_ _, two, everyone made it out alive! And-and three, everyone is healthy and have recovered with minor issue!_ That had been the best news you had received upon awaking, momentarily stopping your count as you thought on this. After informing you of that (and quite possibly trying to distract you from your bodily issues), Toriel had announced that she was going to make cinnamon and butterscotch pie to celebrate your recovery as well as the fact there were no casualties. It had been some kind of miracle no one got dusted, and you could celebrate to that.  Though now you were concerned about the psychological damaged a falling building had on the residence ~~you had to forcibly remind yourself to stop grabbing your neck.~~ You yourself never wanted to step near the market place again as long as you lived or stand near anything that remotely looked like a skyscraper.  You knew that wasn’t going to happen, you knew you’d be going to the market place again, because you wanted to help in any way you could, regardless of fear and any potentially developed phobias. You just needed to ease yourself into it. Once when you were learning to drive you had gotten rear-ended, and while everyone walked away from that incident, you had avoided that particular road when driving for years. The market place was going to be another ‘rear-ended road’ for you, but unlike the road you were going to go back much sooner than you were comfortable with and help with anything you could. You just had to be careful not to trigger yourself, hence the need to ease yourself into going.

But for now, you were in the kitchen helping make the pie, though Toriel fussed over you exerting yourself but allowed you to help anyways. Gerson was reading by the fireplace, purposefully staying away from you which you were thankful for, though with the looks they kept giving each other when they thought you weren’t looking, there was a dilemma that they hadn’t shared yet probably because it involved you.

Honestly, you were in no hurry to find out what it was. You have had too many traumas in too short a timeframe. You were pretty sure some where down the line you were going to have a private meltdown, but until that day came you were going to ignore it.

You decided to handle this potential trigger the same way you handled anything that caused you extreme discomfit, by ignoring it and keeping too busy to think about it. Not healthy, you knew that, but it was a tried and true method.

You just had to stay busy, had to focus on something other than  the near death experience you had or the fact that the only reason you and the others were alive was because you had successfully managed to defy reality and pulled something straight out of your non-existent behind, you _needed_ to stay active as to _not_ focus on the what-ifs that could have happened had you failed, what _had_ happened, and above everything else _you needed to ignore the odd deep ache in your soul._

As if to tell you the futility of ignoring it, you felt a deep throb in your chest. It twinges in a painful way, not overwhelming but like a muscle that had been overworked and pulled. ~~You did not see Toriel stopping momentarily, looking at you in concern, nor did you see Gerson momentarily popping his head in, looking at you with a look that mirrored Toriel’s.~~

You felt… out of sorts, like your body was still getting itself back together and you didn’t know if it had been the fact that you had been a pile of bones or if it was soul related. Maybe it was just you trying to adjust to having survived and shielding a lot of people from a building falling at the cost of you pulling up every magic you had despite having no training in that? You had read about a (human) mother lifting a car to save her child back home, as well as other cases like that when in life-or-death situations. ‘Hysterical strength’ it was called if you were remembering correctly.

Was that what happened back there? You broke some kind of mental restraint that allowed you to summon enough power to temporarily stop a building? Did doing that cause this… disconnection feeling?

Sighing, you whisk the butterscotch in to stop yourself from clutching your neck again. _Stop focusing on it,_ you tell yourself sternly.

_Four, according to Toriel it’ll take about a year for the market place to get back up and running, so they are going to be opening previously closed areas of Home to make a temporary marketplace._

_Five, the Froggits are going to be checking all the buildings to make sure this doesn’t happen again._

_Six, Toriel said that the Eyewalker’s had invited us to dinner!_

_Seven, you were still in one—goddamnit Ivory!_

**What bit you in the coccyx?** A young voice said loudly, right where your ear should be.

You yelped, yanking the whisk away, splattering yourself and the counter with butterscotch.

“Ivory?” Toriel was next to you in a heart-beat, looking worried.

“I’m fine! Really, just-just fine!” You said, grabbing a towel to keep yourself from flipping Chara the bird.

Chara giggled from above you, and you felt oddly happy to hear it. Chara had been absent since you woke up and you had started to wonder where they had gone off to.

**Glad to see the dead is walking among us again**. The cheeky brat grinned, though they looked… off. Like something was distracting them.

Taking a moment to clean up the mess you made, you turned from Toriel to give the floating kid a concern look and mouthed ‘Are you alright?’.

Chara jerked back slightly, looking startled at the question as well as…guilty? But it was gone in a blink, a pouty look taking over their face as they floating above you.

**Hey, don’t give me that look. I’m not the one who pulled a stupid stunt and almost got myself killed.**

You unconsciously nodded, the dull ache throbbing. Chara jolted suddenly, looking at you intently… no, looking through you intently. After a moment they sighed, rubbing the back of their head.

Well, you are both healthy and in one piece, soul as well… as healthy as a bruised soul can be, anyways.

You opened the cupboard, grabbing a glass as you shot Chara a anxious look as you mouthed ‘Bruised?’.

**It’s nothing to worry about. Take it easy, relax and like any bruise it’ll go away in time. I’m more interested as to why you fell to pieces. As far as I’m concern, that’s the real head scratcher.**

That made you flinch, and you couldn’t stop your hand automatically grabbing at your neck. The child tilted their heads, an amused look on their face.

**What? Having difficulty keeping your head on straight?**

You groaned at the pun, releasing your neck. This apparently was the wrong thing to do as Chara’s smile somehow got wider with glee.

Toriel’s hand gently touched your shoulder, reminding you of her presence. She was giving you a concerned look as she spoke. “Are you feeling alright? Any pains? Your emotions have been fluctuating for a while now.”

“Nah, I’m fine. Just feeling out of sorts and not all together here but I figured it’ll be a while before I start feeling like myself again.”

“I’m not really surprised. You could say the event left you scrambled.” Toiel responded, a tentative smile on her face.

“Yeah, I really lost my… head…there… _oh god was that an accidental pun_ …?”

Chara was cackling now, spinning in summersaults above you, as Toriel had a sudden gleam in her eyes that made you wary.

“I _head_ that it was scary, but I promise we’ll get through this _intact_. Until then though I’ll be at you _neck_ and call.”

The goat monster’s smile grew at your groan, which was echoed by the tortoise in the dining area. Chara looked positively delighted that Toriel was punning at you.

Certain you were fine for now Toriel turned, giving you just enough time to flip the floating grinning gremlin off while mouthing ‘I’ll get you back for those’.

**What? You punned as well! I’m just saying you can’t get mad at me when you went a- _head_ and did it too!**

You must have been more annoyed than you thought, that or she was paying you more attention because Toriel turned to see what was annoying you.

**Aw, don’t skull-k ! You’ll make her worry.**

You knew Toriel was watching you but couldn’t stop yourself from glaring at the ghostly child.

**Hey now, what I say about giving me that look? That glare is positively cranium-able!**

“Okay, that’s a stretch.” You mumbled, though apparently not as quietly as you thought, Toriel looking at you in confusion.

“What is?”

You waved you off with a nervous laugh. “Nothing, nothing at all. Oh hey, what’s the next step?”

Toriel decided to show you a small mercy by allowing you your blatant attempt at topic changing, Chara looking positively giddy.

You quickly figured out why, silently twitching as you aided Toriel in baking… to the tune of head-related puns, curtesy of Chara.

Soon enough the pie was in the oven and the two of you set about cleaning the kitchen.

**Hey, don’t ignore me! It might make me into a head-case, you know.**

Why did Chara not like Sans again?

“Well,” Toriel started, dragging you out of your thoughts. “the kitchen’s clean and the pie has another hour. Why don’t you take a break?”

You agreed, seeing how with Chara back you were probably not going to be so out of sorts. The two of you should talk more about your soul, but that was a topic you were not going to touch for now. You trusted the self-serving gremlin to be at least honest about not needing to worry about your soul, seeing how they still needed you.

And in the sanctuary of your mind, you acknowledged that having Chara around made you happier and feel more stable.

_A dead child is keeping me grounded. How messed up is that?_

You walked towards your room, nodding to Gerson as you passed him.

Locking the door behind you, you made your way to the locked desk. Chara looked over your shoulder as you pulled out the GHOBL paper, opening and smoothing it out.

Grabbing one of the pens sprawled around your desk you starting writing.

 

  * You have ~~nine~~ months to complete your end of the deal. 8 mo.  & 1 week left.


  * Train your magic to control it. Figure out how to keep everyone from freaking out when you whip it out.


  * Get to New Home so you can reach barrier.


  * Destroy barrier.


  * Go home with you brother’s soul.


  * Don’t fuck up.



 

  * A ~~pologize to Tori. She didn’t deserve you being an ass. Invoke Mission: Apology Pie.~~ Success!


  * See if Tori will teach you magic. If not, see if one of the monsters in the Ruins would be willing. If that fails, you may need to leave the Ruins for training. I don’t care if they are being sincere, Chara is not an option. I will train under Jerry before that becomes an option. _Effective immediately, Gerson is no longer an option._


  * Avoid Flowey like the plague. If this cannot be done, hit first and apologize later.
  * As getting to the barrier requires leaving the Ruins, you will inevitably run into Sans, Undyne, Mettaton and Asgore. DO NOT ENGAGE IN BATTLE! Also, do not run like a little bitch when you see them. You are a monster, not a human. They won’t attack you without reason. NOTE: YOUR SOUL MUST NEVER EVER COME OUT AROUND THEM, THEY WILL KILL YOU WITHOUT PROVOCATION!!


  * M ~~ake yourself as inconspicuous as possible.~~ Thanks to the marketplace incident, this is no longer possible until you leave the Ruins.


  * Make friends. They are people, not demons. Note: it doesn’t matter what race they are, kids are still easier to befriend than adults.


  * For the love of all things holy. DO. NOT. FANGIRL. IF/WHEN YOU MEET PAPYRUS OR ALPHYS. The last thing you need to do is make them think you are a crazy stalker or something.


  * Apparently, everyone can feel your emotions and you are your own lie detector. Technical truths are your best friend.


  * Your magic is strange, creepy and induces dread. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES DO YOU LET IT OUT.



 

Re-reading it once more, you looked over to Chara who was reading it. “Anything else I should add?”

For a moment it looked like Chara was going to shake their head but stopped, a determined look finding its way onto the young child’s face.

**Add ‘Avoid Sans. He is aware of the timeline and will cause trouble’.**

That caused you to whip around to the child, sockets widening. “What?”

**Look, I went looking into stuff, and he is really confused right now.**

“But-”

**Look, you saw how quickly Gerson attacked you. I guarantee the second that smiling trashbag gets a look at your soul he won’t hesitate to blast you into a pile of dust.  Not to mention, he is a Judge.**

That… didn’t mean anything to you, and you told Chara that which caused the kid rolled their eyes. **Remember the Judgement Hall? He judges all the players who enter, because its his job. He’s supposed to go around check people discreetly, build a case and then judge them on those actions they made.**

“So… important? Because it was kinda left vague on what his roll was, you know outside of the hardest and most insane boss fight in the game.”

Chara groaned, rubbing their forehead. **How is it you know so much yet practically nothing? He is Monsterkind’s Judge, Jury and Executioner all rolled into one! And the Judge is the second most powerful figure in the kingdom, right after my parents! His word might as well be coming straight from my dad! Sans just happens to be incredibly lazy and apathetic and would rather people not know who he actually is.**

_Oh_. You thought, tapping the pen against the desk top. _That makes more sense about him and confirms whether or not he actually recalls the previous timelines. It was hinted but never outright stated… but—_

“Isn’t he depressed though? Like cripplingly depressed because of the time loop? Wouldn’t it be better to let him in on this? If he knew that we are breaking the barrier, maybe he’d be willing to help. Especially if we stress that what we’re doing is also breaking the loop.”

**Are you crazy? Sans blames me for like ninety percent of the genocide routes! He thinks I’m evil incarnate!**

“Well, in his defense, I am pretty sure he only sees you during the genocide routes.”

**No, he doesn’t! I told you, I’m not the one who makes Frisk violently murder their friends! I only take control when they finish the genocide routes! Everything else that happens is on you Outworlders!**

“Then how does he know about you?”

Chara jolted, looking away with a frown. **It’s complicated.**

“More complicated than dragging a drunken human from one world to another, transforming them into a skeleton monster?”

**Yes! Sure! Let’s go with that!** Chara huffed, throwing their arms up. **Just avoid him, okay?**

“Can’t promise that. If he is aware, he’ll probably realize I stand out by virtue of him never having met me in the other timelines. Avoiding him might give him the impression I have something to hide.”

**You do have something to hide.**

“Yeah, but I don’t want to confirm that to him. I already know I’m going to be nervous around him, so better he thinks I’m just crippling shy or socially inept than a human in monster flesh.”

Chara grumbled but didn’t disagree as you jotted down ‘Avoid Sans when you can. Otherwise, invoke operation: obfuscating stupidity around him.’

A knock caused you to jump a bit, hiding the note out of instinct. Toriel’s voice soon was heard, telling you that the pie would be ready soon.

You agreed, folding the paper back up, stopping before you put it back in the drawer. Looking around you grabbed one of the books Toriel gave you (one about the history of the Ruins) and placed the paper inside before putting it in the drawer along with several other books that you placed book makers in at random. You stood quickly but stopped dead at the sound of your body popping. Your hand snaked up, gripping your neck as you tried to will away the phantom sensation of your body moving whiling not being connected, your hand running across your face before falling over the bed, like a puppet whose strings got all tangled up—

—The sound of the building falling on t _¤_ _ ~~p~~_  0f **_y_** **O** u A _🅂_ mͩoͣlͬᵏteͩnͣ ͬᵏmͤaͬgʸiͤcͭ iͩmͣmͬᵏoͤlͬatͭeͪdͤ yͩoͣuͬᵏ ᶰfͤˢrˢoᵏmͤ ͤᵖwˢiᵍtͬhͦʷiͥᶰnᵍ —

**Hey! Stay with me here. Stay with me! Breath! Come on, breath with me, in…out…in…out…**

You don’t know how long you stayed like that, clutching your neck in a fetal position with a vague sense that coppery magic was exiting your mouth and sockets as Chara forced you to focus on their breathing. By the time they had gotten you calmed down enough to not put the rest of the house in a tizzy, Toriel had come back stating the pie was ready and would you please set the table.

You forced gave a hoarse ‘sure’, not daring to try and say anything else.

With a final look at the mirror to see if there was any evidence left from your… episode, you made your way out, forcing yourself to feel fine as you shoved the entire thing far, far down in the depths of your mind.

Ignoring the pointed look Chara was giving, you the the dining area, finding Gerson rummaging through the alcohol that some of the Whimsun’s brought. Feinting curiosity you picked one up, reading ‘Bridge Seed Beer’.

“This looks interesting.”

**Don’t you remember the last time you drank?**

“Oh, Bridge Seeds are pretty potent!” Gerson informed you, seeing you eyeing…eyesocketing the beverage. “Are you even old enough to drink?”

“Yup! Been so for a while now… ah, why not?” You mumbled, twisting the bottle cap off as you ignored a voice in your head that sounded like Mia about how drinking your problems away was not a healthy solution. You took a tentative sip, testing it out. It had a bitter taste, strong and aromatic. Gerson was right in that it was potent, but you used to drink Brewmiester so you weren’t completely thrown. You weren’t expecting the tingly sensation down your spine, nor how your vision sharpened. Huh.

Inquiring Gerson if that was normal confirmed that yes, that was pretty normal for Bridge Seeds made you take another tentative sip before you deciding you liked it and that you were having it with your pie.

Setting the beverage on the table, you made your way to the kitchen to get the dishes and utensils. As you left you took a moment to eye the huge pie Toriel was cutting, the tasty aroma filling your ~~nose~~ nasal cavity.

Chara, realizing you were going to pretend you hadn’t just had a meltdown, wandered over to Toriel, eyeing the pie with approval.

**That looks amazing! She really out did herself**. Chara said cheerfully, though you noticed they looked a little sad as they watched their mother. You felt a kinship in that expression, knowing you would like to talk to your mother and family again.

_I will. I just have to be patient. Just a little over eight months to go, I can do this. And once I’m back, I’m going to hug_ everyone _! Then I’m getting a_ really _good therapist, because I am pretty sure I have something like PTSD!_

**Hey, what are you plotting? Because need to keep your _head_ out of the clouds and set the table.** Chara spoke with a grin, all signs of their melancholy gone.

You ignored the re- _pun_ -gent child _~~damn you Chara!~~_ and continued to set the table, deciding you’ve were not going to have any further issues for today and just enjoy a calm none drama or life-threatening evening.

You were going to push all issues aside and pretend nothing was wrong, nothing at all!

Just as Toriel set the massive pie in the center of the table, a knock rang out.

“I got it!” You said sweetly, making your way to the front door. “Think one of the neighbors decided to drop by?”

Floating lazily behind, Chara yawned. **Yeah, probably. They’ve been visiting a lot trying to get their facts straight about the recent events, as well as other stuff**.

The knock happened again somehow sounding both hesitant yet frantic, like they weren’t sure they should be knocking yet needed to.

Shrugging you opened the door with a greeting on your currently non-extant tongue—

That promptly died as you looked down and stared into reddish-brown eyes that looked both frightened and haunted, a bandage around their head that barely stopped the blood that trickled down their forehead, a stick clutched tightly in their hand, their blue and purple sweater torn, and knees scrapped.

They backed up upon seeing you, looking scared and confused. Suddenly they relaxed, looking past you with relief as a watery smile found its way on the small child’s face.

A broken and scratchy sound escaped their lips, sounding like Chara’s name before the child’s eyes rolled into the back of their head and they fainted dead away.

You barely caught them in time, instincts kicking in as you checked their pulse. Finding a steady pulse, you looked around to see if anyone had seen the child before stepping in back inside with child secured in your arms. A sense of vertigo swept over you and before you even realized it you were standing in front of Toriel, who along with Gerson jumped at your sudden appearance.

“Tori, Frisk’s hurt! I need your healing!”

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we have Frisk entering, and accidentally voiding Chara's contract, with both Ivory and Toriel going in protective mode, and Gerson... well Gerson has no idea whats going on anymore.
> 
> Next up: Sans is still trying to figure out what color copper is because clearly that can't be right while Papyrus argues that it is, and Flowey... well lets just say Flowey isn't really himself anymore...
> 
> Hopefully I will post it sometime in the next month. Have a great day!


End file.
